


When Hearts Collide (Sirius Black)

by ravenclawgirl98



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Marauders Era (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:33:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 23,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28061727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravenclawgirl98/pseuds/ravenclawgirl98
Summary: Georgia Kelly is a Slytherin. She is also a Muggle Born. She surprised everyone when she was placed in the Slytherin House, including herself. She is bullied almost constantly, until her third year when she is saved by the infamous Sirius Black. A friendship blossoms, and from that, a romance. But Georgia is a part of a house where the majority of people are against everything that Sirius stands for. When two hearts collide, can they get past prejudices and dark pasts?This story will have some dark themes including abuse.Disclaimer: I only own Georgia and any other original characters. Everything else is the property of its respective owners.
Relationships: Sirius Black/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21
Collections: Starring Sirius Black





	1. Chapter 1

September 1, 1971

"SLYTHERIN!" The Sorting Hat boomed, and people began to murmur to themselves, staring at the blonde haired Muggle Born that was perched on the stool, the Sorting Hat so large on her that it slid down, covering her eyes.

Having a Muggle Born get sorted into Slytherin House was extremely rare, it hadn't happened in quite a few years, leaving everyone perplexed. The eleven year old, Georgia Kelly, was confused. So what if she had been sorted into Slytherin? Just so long as she was sorted somewhere right? So why were a bunch of the Slytherin students staring at her like she had the plague? Then there were the Gryffindors who were staring at her in sympathy, as though they knew what awaited her in the next seven years to come. 

Georgia slowly got off her stool, heading towards the students wearing green and silver. Everyone scooted away from the edge of the table, giving her a wide berth. Georgia bit her lip as she sat down, staring at her plate. She had been so excited when she had first gotten her letter, but her parents had been less than thrilled. On the train, Georgia had started to think that maybe she had found somewhere that she belonged, but by the way that her fellow students were treating her, Georgia was starting to wonder if she would find anywhere that she belonged.

October 14, 1973

"Don't walk away from me, you filthy Mudblood."

Georgia sighed as she turned back around to face Lucius Malfoy and the group that followed him everywhere that he went. She knew what was going to happen now, after having endured three years of this sort of treatment both at school and at home, she was far more used to it than a thirteen year old ought to be.

Lucius shoved Georgia against one of the stone walls, but the younger girl didn't even flinch.

"People like you need to know their place in this world." He snarled at her, a dark smirk on his face. Georgia didn't say anything; she knew that no matter what it was that she said, it would just seem to make him angrier, and that would make her 'punishment' much more worse. Hell, she could agree with him and he would beat her up and call her weak. But who was she kidding? Georgia never fought back, so maybe she was weak after all.

Lucius delivered a hard blow to Georgia's stomach, and the girl bit back a cry of pain as she doubled over. Lucius was about to deliver another blow when a spell was shot at him, sending him flying. 

Georgia turned to see four boys that looked like they were about the same age she was, all of them with their wands out. 

"You really should pick on someone your own size." One of the boys, who had curly black hair that looked like he had spent hours on it, said to Lucius, a sneer on his face as Lucius picked himself up off of the floor, brushing himself off. "And you should know better than to attack one of your superiors." Lucius retorted, causing the boy to laugh. "You're as much my superior as Snivellus is."

Another one of the boys, who had messy brown hair and scars on his face, gave Georgia a kind look. "Are you alright?" he asked her.

Georgia was still trying to get over her surprise. No one had ever helped her before, usually people just let things happen. "Um, uh, yeah, yeah I think so." She responded. The boy with beauty parlor style hair gently gripped Georgia's hand, pulling her behind the group of boys, who formed a sort of shield around the girl.

Lucius growled softly. "You'll pay for this Black, mark my words." Georgia could sense the threat that was in his words, and it caused her to shudder a little bit, she knew just how violent Lucius could be when he was truly angry. The boy that Lucius had called Black turned and looked down at Georgia. He was taller than she was, maybe by about three or four inches or so. "What's Malfoy doing tormenting a beautiful lady like yourself?"

Georgia blushed lightly at his flirtations. "I'm a Muggle Born, that seems to be enough for him to decide to bully me I guess."

Black shook his head. "I wish that everyone would just get rid of their prejudices already, it's getting quite annoying. I'm Sirius Black by the way. The quiet, short one over there is Peter, the dashingly handsome man that comes second only to myself is Remus."

"Oi, what does that make me then?" A boy who had hair similar in color to Sirius but far more messy said indignantly, and Sirius raised an eyebrow. "You're just James of course. Do something with that hair of yours and then maybe we'll talk about where you stand on the list."

"What's your name?" Remus directed this question to Georgia, perhaps hoping that a change in subject would prevent a scuffle from breaking out between the two boys.

"Georgia Kelly." She responded, giggling a bit as Sirius ruffled James' hair, making it even messier than it had been previously. "You didn't have to step in like that you know. He could really hurt you guys."

Sirius puffed out his chest. "I'd like to see him try." He boasted, but Georgia shook her head. "Lucius could really hurt you if you're not careful." She was worried that Lucius might try and get some payback some how on the boys for defending her. "You should have just let him do what he wanted, it would have only lasted a few minutes longer anyways."

"You're speaking as though he's done this sort of thing before." Remus said, concern lacing his voice, and Georgia shrugged her shoulders. "Let's just say that it's something I'm used to." 

"But that's not right!" Peter's squeaky voice spoke up, and Sirius nodded again. "He isn't going to be bothering you anymore, not if we have something to say in the matter." He slung an arm around her shoulder. "You're one of us now, and when someone messes with one of us, then they mess with all of us."

And that was the beginning of how Georgia met the Marauders.


	2. Chapter 2

From that moment on, Georgia was officially one of the Marauders, she could always be seen hanging out with at least one of them, usually Sirius or Remus. Remus was like an older brother to Georgia, and honestly, she was starting to get kind of worried about him. Every month he would disappear for a day or two, and whenever she would ask him about it, he would brush it off, saying that he was visiting his sickly mother.

Georgia wasn't falling for it though, she noticed how at the same time every month, Remus seemed to be getting paler, he would eat less, unless it was chocolate, the girl had quickly learned about his affinity for chocolate. She knew that something was up, but no one would tell her what was going on. James and Sirius would make up lame excuses, and Peter...well, whenever she tried to talk to him about it he would just let out a little squeak and run away.

Finally, Georgia got tired of it all, of things being kept from her. They were friends weren't they? And friends didn't keep secrets from each other. One day she cornered Remus in the library.

"What's going on with you?" She demanded, and Remus gulped nervously. "I don't know what you're talking about-"

"Cut the crap Remus!" Georgia kept her voice low. "You're all keeping something from me, and I want to know what it is."

"We aren't keeping anything from you!" Remus insisted. "You're imagining things."

"Oh really? So I'm imagining that you're gone for days every month? And don't even try to tell me that you're visiting your sick mother, because I know that's a lie. Am I also imagining the lame excuses that James and Sirius give me? Or how Peter runs away every time that I ask him what's going on with you?"

"I can't tell you okay?!" Remus snapped at her. 

"Why?! Don't you trust me?!"

"Of course I trust you! But if I tell you, than you're going to wind up being scared of me and hating me, I know that you are!" Remus pushed passed her, quickly making his way out of the library, and Georgia stared at his retreating back. She didn't know what the hell was going on, but she was determined to find out.

Georgia had spent the next week giving the boys the silent treatment. If they couldn't trust her enough to tell her what was going on, than she would just ignore them. It was actually really hard for her, because the boys were the first friends that she had actually ever made at Hogwarts. She was friendly with other students, talked with Lily Evans, Marlene McKinnon and the like, but there was no one that she was truly friends with, no one that she felt like she could tell anything to and not be judged for it. But apparently they didn't trust her as much as she trusted them.

"We have to tell her." Sirius was pacing around in the boy's dorm room in Gryffindor Tower. "I can't take this, we have to tell her."

"Sirius mate, we can't do that, and you know it." James was sitting cross legged on his bed, tossing a Snitch back and forth in his hands. "She could blab about it to one of her dorm mates or something, and then you can bet that the whole school would know about Remus and his furry little problem."

"You should have seen her face when she cornered me in the library." Remus was biting his lip hard. "She looked so betrayed."

"Moony, we've only known her for a couple of months, we don't really know her yet." James tried to reason with him. "She could be a spy or something for all we know."

"Right, because Malfoy beating the shit out of her was all an act." Sirius said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes.

"Sirius, the only reason that you're defending her is because you have a crush on her." James retorted, and Sirius scoffed. "I don't have a crush on her, she's just a friend...a friend that happens to be a female, and a really cute female at that."

"Can we get back to the original topic please?" Remus said quickly to avoid the topic getting out of hand. "We all know that Georgia knows that something is up, and you can bet that she's going to try and do some digging. Do we tell her now, or wait until she discovers the truth for herself, and then we have the possibility of a really angry Georgia to deal with."

"It's not like she'd be able to do any damage." James said, "She couldn't hurt a flea, even if she really wanted to."

"That's kind of harsh isn't it?"

"It's true though. She never fights back when anyone messes with her, she just lets them walk all over her and do whatever the hell they want to her."

"Not everyone can be as brave as you James." Remus pointed out, but his words did make Remus wonder. How come Georgia didn't fight back. She didn't even have a snappy comeback or anything, she just let Lucius, who was the main person that bullied her, do whatever they wanted to her, even if it wound up with her being hurt in the process. And she never went to the hospital wing either, last time it had been Remus that had patched her up...

"That's a nasty cut you have..." Remus gently dabbed at the wound with a wet cloth, causing the girl to his in pain. "Sorry, I'm trying to be as gentle as I can."

"It's not your fault."

Remus glanced down at her arm, noticing what seemed to be an old scar. "I've never seen that before, how did you get that thing?"

Georgia paled a bit and she quickly pulled her sleeve down. "It's nothing, I just accidentally cut myself."

Now that Remus thought about it, the occurence had been kind of odd, because Georgia was really careful about things like that. He wondered if maybe Lucius had done something worse than he normally did, and she hadn't told him about it because she didn't want him worrying.

"What you thinking about Moony?" James asked him, and Remus shook his head. "It's nothing." He realized that with as many secrets as he might have had, Georgia had at least one of her own.


	3. Chapter 3

Georgia was determined to find out Remus' big secret. She was currently giving the Marauders the silent treatment, and she would continue to do so until things changed between them. She knew that she had only known the Marauders for like a month or two, but still, hadn't she proved in that time period that she could be trusted? Well, you could only imagine the glee that Lucius Malfoy felt when he found out that Georgia was on a current hiatus from the Marauders. 

"Don't have anybody to protect you now, do you Kelly?" He taunted her. Georgia was currently in the Slytherin common room. She had some notes out in front of her. She knew that Remus' secret had to do with why he would always leave for a few days once a month. She didn't believe a word he said about his mother being sick. If she truly was sick, why would it always be at the same time every month? It wasn't like Remus would go every month to help her get through her period or something. Even if he did, he wasn't gone for the whole seven days, it was only two days, three at the most. Another thing that Georgia realized was that every time he left, it was always around the full moon. Georgia sighed softly as she looked up at the blonde male in front of her. "Can we just get this over with? Just hex me or hit me or whatever it is that you're going to do Malfoy."

Lucius sneered at her. "I'm not going to just hex you." He growled. Georgia looked around the room, noticing other people getting up, going to Lucius' side. Of course they would all be siding with him. Everyone wanted to see the Mudblood get what she had coming to her. And those that had the slightest bit of sympathy towards her were too scared to try and help her, because they didn't want to become Lucius' next target. 

Lucius grabbed Georgia by her hair, pulling her up out of her chair. Georgia cried out in pain, tears pricking her eyes as he shoved her to the floor. "You know what I found out about you, Mudblood?" He laughed as he swiftly kicked her in her side. "I found out that not even your Muggle parents care about you. They think that you're a freak!"

What...how had he found out...Georgia's thoughts were interrupted as Lucius kicked her again, in the ribs this time. "Severus did a bit of digging for me. You truly are alone aren't you?" He took out his wand, and pointed it at her. "Crucio!"

Lucius' treatment of her lasted for the next hour, and Georgia was left on the common room floor, battered and bruised, her green robes torn to shreds. It took every ounce of strength that Georgia had to get herself up and limp out of the common room. Why did the Sorting Hat have to put her into Slytherin? Why couldn't it have put her into Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff? At least then she would get a break from Lucius torturing her. Georgia leaned against a wall, trying to catch her breath, she was finding it really hard to breathe at the moment. She wasn't having a panic attack or anything like that. Maybe she had broken a rib or something like that. She really hoped that wasn't the case, because if that was what had happened, then she would have to go to Madame Pomfrey, and Madame Pomfrey would want to know what had happened, and Georgia couldn't tell her about how Lucius Malfoy attacked her, because then Lucius would get into trouble, and he would really make sure that she paid for it then.

"Georgia!"

Georgia knew who that voice belonged to, it was one of the people that she had been avoiding, but right now, she was glad to see him. "R-Remus..."

Remus quickly scurried over to Georgia, and his eyes widened at the sight of her. "Holy Merlin, what the hell happened to you?"

She gave a dry laugh, which caused her to wince as it shot pain through her body. "Take a wild guess."

"Malfoy." Remus growled. "Alright, come on, we need to get you to Madame Pomfrey." He wrapped an arm around her, and the two began walking to the hospital wing.

"Remus...she can't know that it was Lucius that did this to me, we have to come up with some excuse."

Remus wanted to say something against it, but he held his tongue. She was right, if he had hurt her this bad just because...well...Remus didn't want to think about what he might do to Georgia if she were the reason he got into trouble. "Don't worry, I'll come up with something." He assured her. He would come up with something alright. Something to get back at Lucius. Maybe he could sneak something into the older Slytherin's drink that would cause his hair to fall out. Remus knew that the others would help him do it. Even if James wasn't exactly sure if they could trust Georgia with his werewolf secret, Remus knew that James still cared about the girl. To him, James and Peter, Georgia was like a sister. To Sirius...well, it was clear that he cared deeply about her, and it wouldn't surprise Remus if the two wound up dating at some point.

When they got to the hospital wing, Remus told Madame Pomfrey that Georgia had fallen off of a broom. Madame Pomfrey shook her head, muttering something about broomsticks being death contraptions. While Pomfrey was tending to Georgia and healing her, Remus went back to the dorm, where the other boys were. "Lucius Malfoy just beat Georgia to a pulp." He informed them, and Sirius immediately jumped off of his bed. "He did what?! I swear to Godric, I'm going to kill that mother-"

"I've got a plan." Remus said quickly, because he had a feeling that he didn't want to hear the rest of Sirius' sentence. "But before we do that, we have to do something about Georgia. We can't protect her all of the time, because she isn't in the same house as us, and she can't change houses, so how do we keep people like Malfoy from hurting her? It's not like we can follow her around all of the time, we definitely wouldn't be allowed in the Slytherin common room."

"Unless she doesn't stay in the Slytherin dorms." Sirius said.

"But she has to stay in the Slytherin dorms." Peter replied. "Doesn't she?"

"She could stay here with us." Sirius said. "I mean, think about it. If she stayed here with us, then we really could protect her from Lucius and his goons."

"I don't know...." Remus said uncertainly. "If one of the professors found out about a girl living with a bunch of boys, we could all get into a lot of trouble."

Sirius looked at James. "What do you think?"

James was quiet for a minute. "I agree that we have to do something, otherwise she might end up dead before she graduates, but I don't know if her staying here with us would be the best plan. I mean, we wouldn't be able to talk about Mooney being a werewolf-"

"Unless we were to tell her." Remus said. "James, I know that you don't trust her enough, but I do, and I think that we should let her in on the secret." Remus didn't show it, but he was feeling kind of nervous about it. What if when Georgia found out, she would hate him for it? He knew that she wouldn't tell anyone, she wasn't that type of person, but still, he didn't want her to be hating him either.

James sighed softly. "It's your secret Mooney, so it's up to you." He told him. "If you think that it's best that Georgia knows about your furry little problem, than we'll tell her. "

"And what about her staying here with us?" Sirius pleaded with him. "You think that she should don't you?"

"It could result in expulsion if we were found out..." James said slowly. A moment later a grin started to creep onto his face. "But then again, we've done a lot of stuff that resulted in expulsion before, so why not?"

Sirius started to cheer and hug James, and Remus laughed lightly. Yes, they could get into trouble for what they were about to do, but if it meant that Georgia would be kept safe, he knew that it would be well worth it.


	4. Chapter 4

“Georgia!” Remus ran up to Georgia in the hallway, his bookbag swinging against his leg as he ran. “Georgia, please stop and just listen to me!”

“Why should I?” Georgia countered. 

“Look, I know that you’re hurt because we’re hiding things from you-”

“Hurt doesn’t even begin to describe it.” Georgia shook her head as she looked at her friend. “Remus, I thought that you knew by now that I could trust me.”

“Georgia, of course I trust you.” He took her hand. Georgia looked at their intertwined fingers but she didn’t pull away. “Georgia, Sirius and I both wanted to tell you, but James wasn’t sure if you could be trusted yet, simply because we haven’t known you for long, but I hate seeing you hurt like this, so I’m going to tell you what’s been going on, but I can’t tell you here. Can you come to my dorm after lessons today?”

“Remus, this isn’t a prank that one of the others came up with is it? They’re not coercing you into anything are they?”

Remus shook his head. “I’m telling you the truth Georgie, just…..please?” His green eyes were sorrowful.

Georgia sighed softly. When he looked at her like that, how could she tell him no? She could tell that he really was apologetic about what had happened, and she needed to give him another chance, right?

Alright, fine.” She relented, and Remus’ face lit up. “Great, I’ll meet you outside of the Fat Lady as soon as classes are over.” He gave her a quick hug before sprinting away, and Georgia was left in the hallway with a smile on her face as she shook her head. She knew that she had probably overreacted about the whole thing, but once classes were over, she would be learning everything. She had her hunches, her ideas, but she would have to wait until later to see if they would be proven right. For right now, she had to get to Potions.

Potions definitely wasn’t one of Georgia’s strong suits, she was much better in Charms class, one of Professor Flitwick’s top students in fact. She had Potions with the Gryffindors, and since Sirius and James always fooled around whenever they were paired up in class, and because that usually ended up with the potion that was in their cauldron to explode, Professor Slughorn paired Sirius with Lily Evans and paired James with Georgia.

“I heard from Remus that you don’t seem to trust me all that much.” Georgia commented as she poured some Salamander blood into the cauldron and started to stir it counter clockwise.

James started to talk, but Georgia beat him to it. “I don’t exactly blame you, I understand why you didn’t want Remus to tell me anything, you guys haven’t really known me for that long, plus there’s the whole thing about me being a Slytherin, and Slytherins and Gryffindors don’t really get along.”

“Georgia, look, I like you, you’re a nice girl and everything-”

“Aw thanks, I’m flattered, but Gryffindors that prank everyone that they can aren’t really my thing.”

James glared playfully at her. “Please, you wish that you could get someone like me, but I’m saving myself for Lily flower.”

“You mean the girl who whenever you try to talk to her she just rolls her eyes at you and tells you to sod off?” Georgia teased him, laughing quietly as his glare deepened. “Okay, I’ll be quiet now, you can continue with what you were saying.”

“Anyways, I think that we’ll be able to trust you, but you have to hang around Slytherins, and if you were to accidentally spill the beans around someone like Malfoy….but that won’t be a problem for too much longer.”

Georgia frowned softly. “What do you mean by that?” She asked him, but James shook his head. “I’m not saying another word, you’ll find out later.”

What was going on? Georgia felt like there was more than one thing that they were going to be telling her. She had no clue what it could be though, but she couldn’t wait to find out.

After her last class of the day, Care of Magical Creatures, Sirius was waiting for her. “I’m gonna be walking with you back to the common room, it wouldn’t do for you to run into Malfoy or any of his goons before you learn our big secret.”

“I’ll be so happy when he graduates.” Georgia groaned. “I have to deal with him for two more years, and there’s talk of him being made Head Boy next year, and you can bet that’s going to make his ego skyrocket, and his treatment of me and any other Muggle Born is probably going to be ten times worse than what it usually is.”

“You don’t have to worry about any of that.” Sirius said as he puffed out his chest in pride. 

Georgia giggled as she shook her head. “You can’t protect me all of the time Sirius. It’s not like you can be with me in the common room or my dorm, and it isn’t like I can just hang around you all of the time, I don’t think that the others would appreciate me following you guys everywhere.”

“Trust me, they wouldn’t mind as much as you think that they would.” Sirius said as they entered the castle, and started to climb up the steps that led to Gryffindor Tower.

He said the password to the Fat Lady, and her portrait swung open, allowing the two to enter the Gryffindor common room. Georgia looked around at the scarlet colored couches and the fireplace that was blazing with warmth. Georgia loved the Gryffindor common room, it was so warm and welcoming, much better than the Slytherin common room, which had always seemed so dark and depressing to her. 

“Georgia!” Peter squeaked as he ran up to the taller girl, giving her a hug. Georgia giggled as she hugged him. “Hey Pete, how are you?” Georgia had always been sort of endeared to the smaller boy, he was so timid, she just felt protective of him. But then, it wasn’t like she tried to do anything when people ganged up on her, so she really had no room to talk.

“Come on.” Sirius took Georgia by the hand, leading her up the stairs and into the boys’ dorm, the other Marauders right behind them. 

“So what’s the big secret?” Georgia asked as she sat on the edge of Sirius’ bed, she knew that the bed belonged to Sirius because there was a can of hair gel tossed onto it, he must have been in a rush that morning and didn’t have any time to put it away.

Sirius and James both looked at Remus, who sat down next to Georgia. “Um...so...you know how I tend to leave for a few days at the end of every month?”

“Yeah, you said that you were visiting your sick mother, but you know by now that I don’t believe a word of that.”

Remus chuckled softly. “I didn’t expect you to catch on to it quite so quickly, but um…” He bit his lip.”Just know...that after I tell you, if you don’t want to be friends with me anymore or don’t want anything more to do with me, I’ll understand completely.”

“Remus…” Georgia shook her head. “There isn’t anything that you could say that would make me not want to be friends with you. You can tell me anything.”

Remus hesitated for a moment. “Well...the truth of the matter is….I’m a….a...werewolf.”

“What?” Georgia’s eyes widened a little bit, everything was starting to make sense now, why he would always disappear around the full moon. “Oh Remus…” She launched herself at him, and Remus tensed a little bit as she hugged him tightly before his arms wrapped around her tightly. “You mean that you don’t hate me?” He asked her hesitantly. “Or think that I’m some sort of monster?”

“Remus, just because you change your form once a month, it doesn’t change who you are on the inside, and it’s the inside that truly counts. On the inside, you’re still you, and there isn’t anything that can change that.”

Remus hugged her again, and it took a moment for Georgia to realize that the boy was crying. 

“Oh Remus….” She murmured, one of her hands running through his sandy colored hair as the boy cried in her arms.

Suddenly Sirius wrapped the two in a hug, and then James joined in, and even Peter managed to get himself into the hug.

“I don’t deserve friends like you.” Remus sniffled, and Georgia shook her head. “Remus, we’re the ones who don’t deserve you. You’re so selfless and caring, we’re the luckiest people in the world to be able to call you our friend.”

Remus pulled away from the hug, wiping the tears from his eyes, giving them all a big smile. “Thank you, all of you.”

“Now that we’re all happy and feeling all mushy and gushy on the inside..” James said, grinning at Sirius. “Siri, care to tell Georgia about the other thing that she came here for?”

“With pleasure.” Sirius looked at Georgia. “You’re moving in with us!” He announced, and Georgia blinked, looking extremely confused. “I’m sorry….I’m….what?”

Remus shook his head. “This is why you’re never allowed to explain things Sirius.” He told the boy before looking at Georgia. “After how badly Lucius beat you up the last time, the four of us had a big discussion. We can’t let you go through that anymore, he could kill you the next time. And we obviously can’t follow you around everywhere that you go, especially not when you go into the Slytherin common room, so we decided that the only thing to do is to have you bunk with us.”

“Is that even allowed?” Georgia asked, she didn’t want them to get into trouble just for trying to protect her. 

“Well, what the professors don’t know won’t hurt them.” James piped up, slinging an arm around Georgia’s shoulder. “And we aren’t really giving you any choice in the matter either, so you’re going to be living here with us, whether you want to or not.”

“But what about the other Gryffindors?” Georgia asked. “Not all of them are going to like me staying here with you guys, you can bet that there’s at least one person that will try and rat us out. Lily, as good of a friend as she is to me, you know that she’ll go by the rules and will report us to McGonagall.”

“Don’t worry about that, we have ways of sneaking you in.” James dove under his bed, pulling out a transparent robe. “This here is an invisibility cloak, when you wear it, you turn invisible. We can use it to sneak you in and out of the dorm, and if anyone were to come up here and investigate, then we just throw the robe on over you, and they won’t see you, and no one will be the wiser.”

“There’s just one problem in this grandiose plan of yours.” Georgia stated, and now it was James that was looking confused. “What do you mean?”

“Just how do you plan on getting my trunk and things into the dorm? It’s not like you can just throw the invisibility cloak on over the trunk and carry it up the stairs.”

“You just leave that to us.” Sirius stated. “We’re going to make sure that no one hurts you ever again.”

Georgia was thinking that she was the one who didn’t deserve friends like this, and she was starting to tear up, but she blinked the tears away as Remus rubbed her back. “You’re our friend Georgia.” He said gently. “And friends keep each other safe.”

Georgia hadn’t had anyone care about her this much since she had started to attend Hogwarts, and she didn’t know what she would do without these boys. “Thank you.” She whispered. “All of you.”

The boys pulled her into another hug, and Georgia snuggled into their embrace, she felt like she was home.


	5. Chapter 5

TW: Scene of Bullying

That weekend was spent moving Georgia into the boys’ dorm. At first, Georgia was worried that one of her dormmates would notice her absence and would say something to one of the Professors or to the Headmaster, but then she realized that they would probably be glad to have her gone, they wouldn’t have to deal with the Mudblood anymore. 

That weekend was also a Hogsmeade weekend, and at first, Georgia felt bad. Instead of the boys being able to have fun in Hogsmeade, they were helping her to move in. But Sirius insisted that it wasn’t a problem. “We can all go to Hogsmeade the next weekend.” He told her, and the other boys nodded in agreement, although Peter seemed to agree a bit less enthusiastically than the others. Georgia told Sirius and James the password to get into the Slytherin common room. 

“Be careful going into the dorms.” Georgia told them. “If boys try to get into the girls dorms, they’re blasted back by a huge gust of wind, it happened to Lucius once when he had tried to sneak into Narcissa’s dorm with her for some alone time.”

Sirius snickered at the thought of Lucius getting knocked onto his ass, while James told Georgia not to worry about them.

“We’ll be careful Georgie, just be ready for when we come with your trunk.”

Georgia was to stay out near the entrance to the common room with Remus and Peter, they were going to keep a lookout in case anyone were to come back early from their weekend trip.

Sirius and James had James’ invisibility cloak with them, which they used to sneak into Georgia’s dorm, levitating themselves so that the floor wouldn’t be able to detect that they were there, thus saving them from any sudden gusts of wind. Fortunately there was no one in there, but it wouldn’t stay that way for very long, meaning that they would have to move quickly. They lifted up Georgia’s trunk, but they were then posed with another problem. They wouldn’t be able to levitate both themselves and the trunk, so how were they to do this?

James smirked at Sirius. “What do you say that we ride the winds?”

Sirius’ own smirk matched James’. “Excellent idea Siri.”

They carried the trunk out into the hallway, and almost immediately, a strong gust of wind attacked them, blowing them out into the common room, along with Georgia’s trunk. James landed on his side and he yelped, rolling out of the way as the trunk came hurtling towards him.

Sirius cursed as he stood up. “That made a lot of noise, we better go before any first or second years come down to investigate.” The two boys quickly left the common room, rejoining Georgia and the other two boys.

“You two made a lot of racket.” Remus said as he raised an eyebrow at the two of them.

“I told you that something would happen.” Georgia said worriedly, wringing her hands together. They could all get into a lot of trouble if someone were to find out what they were doing. Georgia wasn’t worried about herself so much as she was worried about the other boys, she didn’t want them to get into trouble or expelled simply because they had tried to help her.

Sirius gave her a little side hug, trying to calm her down a little bit. “Don’t worry Georgie, everything is going to plan so far, but how about we get out of here so that things can continue to go to plan, hm?”

James and Sirius picked up Georgia’s trunk once more. “We know a secret passageway.” Sirius said to Georgia as they walked. “It leads right by the Fat Lady. When we get closer to her portrait, we’ll hide the trunk under the invisibility cloak.”

“This thing is so light.” James commented as they started to walk. “You would think that there wasn’t a lot in here.”

Georgia shrugged her shoulders. “I didn’t bring a lot, just the things that I thought I would need.” The thing that she didn’t say was that she didn’t have a lot to bring. With how her parents were, they didn’t get her anything extra, just the basic necessities. 

They walked until they came to a wall. James and Sirius set the trunk down, and Sirius gestured for Georgia to come closer. “What do you see on this wall that might look out of the ordinary? Look closely Georgia.”

Georgia squinted as she gazed at the wall, trying to find something suspicious. At first she didn’t see anything, but then….if a person were to look closely… “The mortar around this brick here looks weird.”

Sirius grinned like a proud parent. “Go ahead and push on that brick.” 

Georgia gave the brick a small push, and it moved inward. The bricks began to move to the sides, much like the wall to get into Diagon Alley. 

“Bloody hell….” Georgia whispered, and James laughed softly. “We found this secret entrance in our second year, really great for when we’re trying to pull pranks on the Slytherins and need to make a quick getaway.”

The passageway was dark, so dark that Georgia couldn’t see her hand if she put it right in front of her face. It was cold too, and she shivered a little bit. 

“Lumos.” Remus said quietly, and his wand lit up, brightening the path in front of them. There were stairs, so many stairs, and Georgia’s legs were already starting to ache in protest at the long climb that was before them.

“Hope your legs are strong.” Sirius said cheekily, and Georgia groaned in response. “Well this is going to be just wonderful isn’t it?”

“Cheer up Kelly.” James said as they started to make the long climb up the stairs. What should Georgia have expected though? They were all the way in the dungeons, and they had to get all the way up to Gryffindor Tower. At least this staircase didn’t move...she hoped anyways.

Georgia was panting by the time that they exited the secret passage, right by the Fat Lady just as Sirius had said. When they exited the passageway, Sirius and James threw James’ invisibility cloak over the trunk, hiding it from the view of everyone. 

They walked up to the Fat Lady, and Remus was about to tell her the password, but the portrait stopped him. “Are you sure that she should be hearing you say the password?” She asked, sniffing as she spotted the snake crest that was on Georgia’s robes. 

“Georgia is a friend of ours.” Sirius said. “We trust her. Now just bloody open already. Licorice Snaps.”

The Fat Lady scoffed, muttering something about how children these days didn’t have any manners or respect for their elders. She swung open, and the group walked in. There were a few stragglers in the common room, and Sirius and James tried to avoid hitting them with Georgia’s trunk as they carried it up the stairs. Remus and Peter followed behind them, and Georgia brought up the rear.

“Kelly.” An older Gryffindor, a seventh year boy by the name of Lawrence Jones, walked up to her. Lawrence was buff, his biceps visible even through his robes. He was wanted by many of the older students, and he seemed to know it too. His fair colored face always had a small smirk on it. “What’s a Slytherin like you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in the dungeons where you belong?”

Remus had paused on the stairs when he noticed that Georgia hadn’t followed them, and he quickly scurried over to her. “She’s with us Jones, she came here to hang out with us for a little bit.”

“I didn’t know that you were such a traitor Lupin. But then, what was I to expect when you started to hang out with a Black?”

“And what exactly is wrong with him hanging out with Sirius?” Georgia asked him. Now, whenever someone bullied her, she may not have fought back, but where her friends were concerned, that was a different story altogether.

“He’s a Black, Kelly, he should be in Slytherin, just like the rest of his bloody family.”

“Sirius is in Gryffindor because Gryffindor is where he belongs.” Remus spoke up.

“Shut up Scarface.” Lawrence snarled at him. “I wasn’t talking to you.”

That did it for Georgia. “NEVER make fun of my friends Jones.” She whipped out her wand, and pointed it at the older boy. She was about to shoot a hex at him when a shock of red hair blocked her view. 

“That’s enough, both of you.” Lily Evans looked between Georgia and Lawrence. “Lawrence, Gryffindors are supposed to be chivalrous, and right now, you aren’t acting like that. Do I need to tell Professor McGonagall about your behavior? I’m sure that she would have no trouble giving you a detention or two until you learned how to behave yourself.”

“You’re defending her?” Lawrence asked in disbelief. Multiple people were watching the scene unfold now, and Georgia tried to not shrink back, she didn’t exactly like to be watched. “She’s the enemy Evans.”

“She’s a fellow student, which means that you’re going to treat her with respect.” Lily said firmly, and Georgia was honestly a bit impressed with her fellow third year. No one except for the boys had defended her like this, and they certainly didn’t strike as much fear as Lily seemed to be doing right now. Lawrence grumbled, and looked like he was about to say something before he stormed out, his current girlfriend right on his heels.

“I cannot believe him.” Lily muttered as she turned to look at Remus and Georgia. “Don’t pay him any mind, he just thinks that because he’s popular, that he can do whatever he wants and get away with it.”

“Sounds a lot like Malfoy, maybe the two of them could become friends.” Georgia commented dryly. “Thanks for what you did, you didn’t have to do that.”

“Of course I did. A fellow student was being harassed. What kind of person would I be if I didn’t at least try and do something?” Lily stuck out her hand for Georgia to shake. “Lily Evans.”

“Georgia Kelly.”

“Oh, I know who you are, everyone does.” Lily smiled softly at her. “You kind of made history when you got sorted into Slytherin, there’s not a lot of Muggle Borns that are sorted into that house.”

“So I’ve noticed. Can’t have anyone dirtying their house now can they?”

Georgia turned to look for Remus but he was gone. “Did you see where Remus went?”

“I think that I saw him heading up towards the dorms.”

Georgia sighed softly. “I better go and check on him, make sure that he’s alright. Maybe I can talk to you some other time?”

“Sure. We have Potions together, I’ll see you then.”

Georgia gave the girl a short little wave before starting to walk up the stairs. She thought that Lily was a really nice girl, and that the two of them could be really good friends some day.

Georgia walked into the dorm, seeing that James and Sirius had put her trunk right next to Sirius’. “Did Remus come in here?”

Peter nodded his head. “He didn’t talk to any of us, he just went straight into the bathroom and locked the door.”

“Is everything okay?” James asked worriedly, and Georgia sighed softly. “Lawrence Jones stopped me on my way up, he started harassing me and Remus tried to intervene, and Jones started to make fun of his scars.”

“That prick!” Sirius’ hands were clenched into fists. “I’m gonna hex him the next time that I see him.”

Georgia could understand why Remus would be self-conscious of the scars, especially because of the events that caused them. Before she had known that he was a werewolf, she would always get concerned whenever he would show up with a new scar somewhere on his face or neck. Georgia walked over to the bathroom door, and she gently knocked on the door. “Remus?”

“Go away.” Came Remus’ muffled voice, followed by a sniffle. Georgia sighed quietly. “Please let me in Remus.” She kept her voice soft. “Please, I want to talk to you.”

“Who would want to talk to someone that people call Scarface?”

“Remus, your scars don’t define who you are. And I couldn’t care less if you had a hundred scars on you, you would still be the same Remus that I became friends with, the same Remus that’s like a brother to me.”

There was silence on the other side of the door for a few moments, and then the door slowly opened. Remus’ eyes were red and puffy from crying, his face stained with tears. Georgia immediately pulled him into a tight hug. “Don’t listen to a word that boy said to you Remus, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

“We love you, scars and all.” Sirius added before he too joined the hug.

“It just hurts.” Remus mumbled, and Georgia ran a hand through his hair to soothe him. “I know that it hurts, believe me, I know.”

“How do you deal with it? It’s all of the time for you, how the hell do you manage?”

Georgia thought for a moment before answering. “I guess that I’m just kind of used to it. After a while you start to build up an immunity to it, and the words just sort of bounce off.”

“Well, no one is going to be calling you that ever again Remus.” James’ voice was firm. “We’ll make sure of that.”

“We’re brothers.” Sirius added. “And brothers take care of each other, through thick and thin.”

“Thank you.” Remus whispered. “All of you.”


	6. Chapter 6

If the other Slytherins noticed that Georgia no longer appeared in the Slytherin common room, or the dorms, they didn’t say anything about it. In Georgia’s opinion, they were probably glad that they didn’t have to deal with a Mudblood in their ranks anymore. Christmas was approaching, and Georgia found herself wondering what she would be doing for the holidays. She definitely wouldn’t be going home, Salazar only knew what her father would do to her. Most likely she would probably just be staying at the castle for Christmas. Or at least that was what it would have been if James hadn’t stepped in. 

“You lot need to come over for Christmas.” They were all curled up in front of the Gryffindor common room fireplace, working on their homework. Or at least, Remus and Georgia were doing their homework. Peter was struggling with his own, so Georgia helped him in between doing her own homework. Sirius was fiddling with his quill, and James was tossing a Snitch back and forth in his hands. “My parents are throwing a Christmas ball, they do it every year, and every year, it’s so bloody boring because there’s no one that I know, it’s all adults, all of them commenting on how fast I’m growing or how much I’m starting to look like my father.”

“A ball might be fun.” Remus said as he looked up from his textbook. “Are you sure that your parents wouldn’t mind having all of us there?”

“They’ll love that I have friends there, Merlin knows that we have enough bedrooms for you guys to stay in. So how about it?”

“Count me in.” Sirius said immediately, and Peter nodded his head, indicating that he would be coming as well.

“What about you Georgia?” James asked, and the blonde girl shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know, I don’t really know how to dance, and I don’t even have a dress to wear.”

Sirius flung an arm around her shoulder. “That’s easily taken care of. There’s a Hogsmeade trip right before we leave, we can go then to get you a dress, and James and I have grown up knowing how to dance, requirements of being a Pureblood you know. We can teach you everything that we know.”

“So you’re coming whether you want to or not.” James added. “So don’t even think of saying no Georgie.”

Georgia shook her head as she laughed quietly. “When have I ever said no to you guys?” It seemed that she could never tell anyone no, especially Sirius. If she tried to, than he would give her those wide puppy dog eyes and she would cave within seconds.

“My parents are going to love you.” James continued. “Mum has always wanted to have a girl in the house you know. She and Dad tried to have another kid after I was born, but nothing came of it.”

“You better get ready.” Sirius said to Georgia. “Because you’re going to be dancing until you can’t walk anymore.”

  
  


“Ouch!”

“Sorry James!” Georgia had stepped on his foot for what must have been the dozenth time. He and Sirius had been trying to teach her how to dance the past few days, emphasis on  _ trying _ . Georgia just couldn’t seem to get the hang of it. She was incredibly clumsy, always stepping on their feet or tripping over her own. 

“Here…” Sirius took James’ place, holding one of her hands, placing the other on her waist. “You’re thinking too much about it Georgia. Dancing isn’t about thinking, it’s about letting the music take over, about letting it move you.” He nodded at James, who changed the music. A slow song started to play. “Close your eyes, empty your mind of all thoughts. Honestly, you overthink things so much that I could swear you were a Ravenclaw and not a Slytherin.”

Georgia huffed at him but she did as he said. She closed her eyes, and she felt Sirius moving them around the dorm. Let her body guide her….Slowly, she began to step in time with Sirius, and even though she couldn’t see him, she knew that he was grinning at her. Her brown eyes opened, staring up into Sirius’ own warm grey ones. For a while they just stared at each other, until James cleared his throat. “Are you two just going to keep on staring at each other like that?” He teased them, and Georgia blushed darkly as the two stepped away from each other. She noticed that Sirius’ cheeks were slightly pink as well. At least she wasn’t the only one. 

“Um...we should get some sleep.” Sirius muttered. “It’s getting late, and we have the Hogsmeade trip tomorrow.”

Georgia nodded, biting her lip as she gathered up her pajamas and went into the bathroom to change. What had just happened? It had felt so...so  _ right _ dancing there with Sirius, their arms wrapped around each other. What was going on? Was she developing a crush? No, that couldn’t be. She and Sirius were friends, nothing more, nothing less. That was just how it was. Besides, even if she did have a crush on him, it wasn’t like he would reciprocate those feelings. Why would he? Georgia didn’t think that she was particularly pretty, she thought of herself as average, and if he were to see the bruises that she sported at the beginning of every school year, she knew that Sirius definitely wouldn’t be seeing her as pretty. He would probably pity her, and Georgia didn’t want his pity, she didn’t want anyone’s pity.

The next morning, the sun shone brightly in the sky, and snow was gently falling from a few clouds. Georgia walked out to the courtyard, towards the carriages with the boys. She had a dark purple scarf wrapped tightly around her neck, and her hands were shoved into her jacket pockets.

“Didn’t you bring any gloves?” Remus asked her, and Georgia shook her head. “I must have forgotten them.” In all honesty, she didn’t have any gloves, she was lucky that her father had decided to give her a jacket and scarf, although that had been more her mother than her father. Her mother wouldn’t dare cross him in public, but behind closed doors, she still loved Georgia, and would send her little things. The jacket and scarf had been a Christmas present, but she hadn’t had enough money to include gloves, and she wouldn’t dare ask Georgia’s father for any extra money.

Georgia began to protest as Sirius pulled off his gloves. “Sirius, no you need them!”

Sirius shook his head as he tossed them to her. “My hands are tough, they’ll be fine. You need them a lot more than I do. Think of it as an early Christmas present.” He winked at her, and Georgia blushed as she pulled the gloves on.

“So where to first guys and gal?” James asked.

“To the dress shop of course.” Sirius stated as though this was obvious. “We have to find Georgia a dress for your parents ball.” He took Georgia by the hand. “Today is going to be spent beautifying you.”

Remus rolled his eyes playfully. “I swear, if people didn’t know better, they would think that you were gay.” He teased the Black boy, and Sirius scoffed as he flipped his hair. “I prefer being called bisexual, thank you very much.” He retorted, and the little group shared a laugh as they got into the carriages. 

They arrived at Hogsmeade about fifteen minutes later, and Sirius practically dragged Georgia into the dress shop. “Now, we’re going to need a dress that compliments your eye color. Something that’s a navy color, or charcoal black maybe.”

“Can I help you?” A woman who looked to be in her thirties with brown hair and blue eyes smiled warmly at the group.

“Georgia here needs a dress for a Christmas ball.” James said, and the woman nodded. “I’ll see what I can find. But I must warn you that our dresses aren’t cheap.”

Georgia seemed to deflate, she didn’t exactly have a lot of pocket money, surely not enough to afford the prices of this place. 

“I’ll be paying for it.” James said, and Georgia looked at him with wide eyes, about to protest, but he gave her a look that made her shut her mouth.

“Very well sir. Miss, if you’ll follow me back to the dressing rooms, we can measure you, and then find something suitable for you.”

Sirius grinned at Georgia as she was brought into the back room. The woman had her undress down to her underwear, and started to measure her. “From the look that was on your face, I’ll gather that you’ve never been to a ball before.”

“Was it that obvious?” Georgia asked, and the woman chuckled softly. “You aren’t the first girl who’s walked through those doors having that problem, and Merlin knows that you aren’t going to be the last. I think that I have the perfect dress for you, and that boyfriend of yours isn’t going to be able to stop staring at you.”

“B-boyfriend?!” 

“Yes, the boy who offered to pay for your dress.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.” Georgia shook her head vehemently. “I could never see him as boyfriend material. James is like an annoying older brother.”

The woman laughed softly as she finished measuring. “I know the type. Wait here, I’ll be back in just a moment.”

She left, and Georgia bit her lip. Would the dress fit? What if it looked horrible on her? Or what if they wouldn’t be able to find anything? She couldn’t exactly go to the ball dressed in rags, she wasn’t trying to pull off a Cinderella look here.

The woman returned, and told Georgia to close her eyes. “I don’t want you to see yourself in the mirror just yet. I’ve found that a lot of girls are very judgemental on themselves, and usually if they receive praise from their peers beforehand, they are far more likely to love the way that they look in the dress.”

Georgia nodded and she closed her eyes. She felt the woman slipping the dress over her head. When Georgia opened her eyes, she could tell that the dress was a dark blue in color, and that it went to the floor. Remembering the woman’s words, she avoided looking into the mirror as she was guided into the other room, and the boys gasped when they saw her.

A/N: I hope that you guys are enjoying the story so far! What do you think of the dynamic between Georgia and the boys? Feedback would be greatly appreciated!


	7. Chapter 7

Georgia bit her lip as the boys stared at her seemingly in awe. “What is it? It looks hideous on me doesn’t it?”

“Quite the contrary.” Sirius answered as he shook his head. “Georgia, you….you look radiant.”

“I think that radiant is an understatement.” James took Georgia by the hand, leading her in front of a mirror so that she could see herself. 

Georgia’s dress was floor length, a light blue in color. It looked like there were live butterflies attached to the sleeves that fluttered whenever Georgia moved. A charm that the seamstress had used no doubt.

“Now, the final touches.” The seamstress put a necklace around Georgia’s neck. It had a blue butterfly pendant to match the theme of the dress. On Georgia’s head she put a flower headband.

“This is gorgeous.” Georgia whispered, and the seamstress smiled as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind Georgia’s ear. “A dress is only as beautiful as the woman who wears it.” She told the girl. “You are a beautiful young girl, and you are going to grow into a radiant young woman someday. Remember that.”

“How much do I owe you?” James asked the woman. “We’ll take the necklace and headband as well.”

The seamstress shook her head. “The accessories are free of charge.” She said to him. “My gift to her.”

  
  
  


The group of friends walked out of the shop with a promise from the seamstress that she would send the dress and things to the Potter household. 

“That way Mum can keep it safe until Christmas.” James said to Georgia.

“I don’t know how to thank you.” Georgia wasn’t used to people giving her such lavish gifts. Granted, these past few years she wasn’t really used to receiving gifts at all, so this had been a wonderful surprise.

“You’ll look like a modern day Cinderella.” Sirius told her. “And I will be the dashing Prince Charming that is going to save you from your evil stepmother and stepsisters.”

“Well, technically it was the fair godmother that truly saved Cinderella.” Georgia pointed out. “If it hadn’t been for her, than Cinderella would have never been able to go to the ball and meet the prince. And honestly Sirius, I think that Remus makes a better fair godmother than you do. Somehow I just can’t see you waving a wand around and shouting ‘bibbidi-bobbity-boo’.”

“And you can imagine me saying those words?” Remus asked skeptically, to which Georgia nodded her head. “Oh yes, you’re much more...magical, than Sirius is.”

They all shared a good laugh at that, although Sirius did pout a bit because Georgia didn’t seem to think that he was ‘magical’ enough to be a fairy godmother.

“”I don’t know about you lot, but I’m starving.” James announced. “What do you say that we grab a bite to eat at the Three Broomsticks?”

It seemed that everyone else was hungry as well, so they all quickly agreed and began to make their way to the pub.

Georgia bit her lip when she saw Lucius, Narcissa, and Severus Snape hanging around the entrance, and Sirius took her hand, squeezing it gently. “Don’t worry about them.” He said to her in a reassuring tone. “We’ll make sure that they don’t hurt you.”

Lucius looked lazily over at them as they drew close. “And where have you been hiding all of this time Kelly?” He asked her. “No one’s seen you in the common room, and according to your roommates, you haven’t slept in the dorm in days.”

“What she does isn’t any of your business.” Sirius snapped at him. “She doesn’t have to report to you for everything you know.”

“Actually she does.” Lucius pointed to the gleaming prefect’s badge that was pinned to his chest. “As prefect, it’s my duty to make sure that the younger students are safe and that they aren’t getting themselves into any trouble. Tell me Black, has she been sleeping in your dorm? Is that why we haven’t seen her around other than in classes? A bit young for her to start whoring around for you and your other friends, isn’t she? Although she is pretty, so I can see why you would want her-”

There was a crunching sound as Sirius’ fist connected with Lucius’ nose. “Never….” Sirius said through gritted teeth. He was so mad that his face was turning a dark red. “Insult Georgia like that again you bloody pig.”

“You’ll pay for that Black.” Lucius growled, his hands covering his now bloody nose. “Mark my words, you are going to  _ pay  _ for that.”

“Remus, you and Peter take Georgia inside.” James said. “Sirius and I are going to show these idiots what happens when they mess with us.”

“Don’t.” Georgia begged them. Sirius was already going to be getting into trouble for hitting a prefect, she didn’t want James to get into trouble as well. “Boys, please, let’s just go.” She tugged on Sirius’ sleeve, her eyes wide. “Sirius please. It isn’t worth it,  _ he  _ isn’t worth it.” 

Sirius looked like he wanted to argue, but one look at Georgia and the look that was on his face softened immediately. “Georgia, I can’t just let him get away with what he’s saying about you.”

“Sirius, they’re words, that’s all that they are. They don’t faze me, not anymore. Come on, let’s just go inside, we can still have a nice rest of our day.”

“Better listen to the little slut Black.” Narcissa sneered, and James looked ready to lunge at her, but Remus held him back. “Georgia, I think that we had better get these two inside before an all out brawl happens.”

Georgia nodded and they managed to drag the fuming Sirius and James into the pub. They managed to find a booth in the corner of the pub that would offer them some relative privacy. 

“I can’t believe Malfoy.” Sirius grumbled. Remus had gone to order them all some butterbeer. “I should have hexed him.”

“And you would have gotten into even more trouble.” Georgia scolded him. “Sirius, he said those things because he knew how it would get to you. He wants you to lash out at him because then he can get you into trouble, and Merlin only knows how much trouble the lot of you get into on a daily basis.”

“He’s getting suspicious.” James said. “He knows that you don’t sleep in your dorm anymore Georgia.”

“Do you think that he’s going to tell anyone?” Georgia asked worriedly, and James sighed. “I really don’t know. But if he does, than we just explain things, I’m sure that Dumbledore would understand, given the circumstances.”

“But what if he doesn’t? What if he expels all of us?” Georgia couldn’t go back home, she just couldn’t. Her father hated her enough because she was a witch, but to be a failed witch, that would just be icing on the cake.

“Hey.” Sirius took her hand, which Georgia hadn’t even realized had started to shake. “Look, things are going to be okay, alright? We’ll figure stuff out, we’ll threaten to blackmail Malfoy if he tries to rat us out.”

“I think that it’s a little too late for that.” Remus had come back to the table, but he held no butterbeers. “I just looked through the window and saw Lucius and the others heading back towards the castle. He saw me and smirked, I think that he’s going to tell Dumbledore about everything.”

“We have to catch up to him!” SIrius urged and they all stood up, running out of the pub. They lost Lucius in the crowd of students, only just spotting him as he got into a carriage that was heading back towards the school.

“Come on!” Sirius hightailed it back towards the town. “We can use the passageway that’s inside of Honeyduke’s!” 

But they were too late. Even with the passageway that got them into Hogwarts, Lucius had reached the Headmaster and told him his suspicions.

Professor McGonagall walked towards the group, a stern look on her face. “All of you, come with me, there’s some things that the Headmaster wants to discuss with you.”

Georgia bit her lip, nervously following behind the Tranfiguration professor. What was going to happen? Was this going to be her final day at Hogwarts?


	8. Chapter 8

Georgia followed Professor McGonagall in apprehension. This was it then, she was going to be kicked out of Hogwarts, sent back home to people who didn’t even want her. 

“It’s going to be okay Georgie,” Sirius whispered to her. “We’re going to find a way out of this, I promise.”

Maybe Georgia would be able to manage to find a way out of this, a way that didn’t get Sirius and the others into trouble. They wouldn’t even be in this situation if it wasn’t for her, she should have just stayed in her Slytherin dorm, it would have wound up being a lot less trouble for everyone.

McGonagall herded the group into Dumbledore’s office. “Here they are Headmaster.”

“Thank you, Minerva.” Albus Dumbledore looked at the group, and Georgia tried to get a reading about his emotions on his face, but he kept up a deadpan expression, and she found herself biting her lip nervously. 

“Minerva, if you wouldn’t mind having the boys wait outside while I talk with Miss Kelly, I would appreciate it.”

“I’m staying with her,” Sirius said stubbornly, but Georgia shook her head. “I’ll be okay Sirius, I promise.” After all, it wasn’t like Dumbledore was going to hurt her or anything like that, which, from the way that Sirius was acting, was what he thought was going to happen.

James and Remus both wound up having to drag Sirius out of the room, and Dumbledore shook his head as he looked at the blonde girl. “Mr. Black is extremely protective over you, isn’t he, Miss Kelly?”

Georgia blushed a bit. “I mean, I guess so.”

Dumbledore chuckled, a kind look sparkling in his eyes. “Ah, to be young and in love.”

“L-love?” Georgia stammered out as her face turned the color of a fire hydrant. “We aren’t in love!”

“I have seen many things in my years at Hogwarts Miss Kelly, including students that claim that they are in love with each other. But that love rarely lasts. You and Mr. Black, however, have something different entirely. Now, what’s this I am hearing about you living in the boys’ dormitory?”

Georgia sighed, hanging her head. “I tried to get them to back out of it...I get bullied a lot in my house because of my Muggle Born status...they wanted to keep me safe so they had me move into their dorm. Please don’t punish them, Headmaster, it isn’t their fault, they were just trying to protect me.”

“I can see that.” Dumbledore stroked his beard as he thought. “Normally we don’t allow boys and girls to reside in the same dorm...but if the people bullying you are causing you harm...what exactly do they do to you?”

“Mostly it’s just name-calling,” Georgia said. “Except if it’s Lucius. If he’s the one that’s harassing me, he’ll shove me around or hit me if he’s feeling like it. And I’m not exactly safe in the girls’ dorm considering that Narcissa will let him in at any time.”

“You do realize that people will assume things about you if you continue to reside with the boys?” Dumbeldore said to her, to which Georgia gave a soft sigh. “Headmaster, people already assume things about me. They assume that because I’m a Muggle Born, it means that I’m weak, or that I stole someone’s magic. My father thinks that because I’m a witch, that I’m a freak. So honestly, it couldn’t get much worse than it already is. Sirius and the others are the first ones to have cared about me in years. I don’t care about what sort of trouble I’ll be getting into, but please don’t punish them. Whatever you want to punish them with, I’ll take it for them-”

Dumbledore held up a hand, silencing her. “I will not be punishing the boys. They helped a friend in need, at great risk to themselves. That shows bravery and loyalty, and those traits do no deserve punishment. However, I do think that I need to have a talk with Mr. Malfoy about how to treat the other students, and perhaps revoking his Prefect privileges may be in order. When you leave, please tell Professor McGonagall that I would like to speak with Mr. Malfoy and Professor Slughorn as soon as possible. As for your current situation, I think that it would be best for you to continue dorming with Mr. Black and the others for the time being.”

Georgia grinned brightly, nodding her head. “Thank you, Headmaster.”

“Be sure to take a licorice snap on your way out. Be careful though, I’ve found them to be rather sharp.”

  
  


“So we’re off the hook then?” Remus asked in disbelief. Georgia had told them what happened as they made their way back to Gryffindor Tower. “We aren’t even going to be getting into any trouble? No detention? No losing house points?”

“The only one who’s going to be getting into trouble is Lucius,” Georgia replied as they climbed up the stone steps and walked up to the Fat Lady. James said the password, and they all climbed through the portrait hole, Georgia then flopping herself down onto one of the couches. “I don’t know about you boys, but I’ve definitely had enough drama for today.”

“You’re friends with that lot, you’re always going to be dealing with _some_ kind of drama.” Lily Evans piped up as she came out of her dorm. “Especially Black, he’s the most dramatic out of all of them.”

“Lovely to see you too Evans.” Sirius remarked sarcastically. James immediately made his way over to Lily, his whole body screaming ‘flirtatious’. “I didn’t see you in Hogsmeade today Evans.”

“I was there, I just decided not to go anywhere that had been tainted with your foul stench Potter.”

Georgia laughed as James put a wounded look on his face. “You scar me, Evans.”

“Good, maybe it’ll take that ego of yours down a notch or two.” She turned to look at Georgia. “How you manage to stay friends with these buffoons, I’ll never know. No offense Remus.”

“None taken.” The sandy-haired boy said with a light laugh. “I’m perfectly aware that I’m surrounded by buffoons, they tend to remind me of that on a daily basis.”

Sirius and James looked offended, while Peter just looked like he had no idea what Remus was talking about.

“Everyone is ganging up on us, Prongs.” Sirius said, pretending to tear up, and James hugged Sirius. “There, there, Padfoot, you’ll always have me.”

“Oh get a room you two.” Lily rolled her eyes while Sirius gave out a barking laugh. “Sorry, but messy-haired boys aren’t my thing, I much prefer someone who can keep their hair neat and orderly.”

“Excuse me, but I’ll have you know that girls love my messy hair.” James said with a scoff.

“Oh really? If your hair is so loved by the female population of Hogwarts, then how come none of them have been willing to go on a date with you yet?”

“I haven’t asked any of them because the only one that I’m interested in is my precious Lily Flower.”

“I think I’m going to puke.” Lily groaned, and her face was indeed pale. “I’m meeting Marlene in the library, have fun with these idiots Georgia.” Lily practically ran out of the common room, and Georgia shook her head at James. “You really should give the poor girl a break.”

James stared dreamily in Lily’s direction. “One of these days, I’m going to get her to see how great I really am, you mark my words.”

  
  


Soon enough, the Christmas holidays came around, and the Marauders were getting ready to go home to the Potter house. 

“You’ll love it.” James assured Georgia as they finished packing their trunks. “I’ve told Mum and Dad about you and they’re really excited to meet you.”

“Do you think that they’ll like me?” Georgia asked worriedly, and James enthusiastically nodded his head. “They’re going to adore you, but don’t be surprised if my Mum tries to get the two of us together at some point.”

“I may just gag if she tries to do that, you’re like a brother to me, I would rather kiss a Flobberworm first.”

“Oh come on, my lips aren’t _that_ bad.”

“And why are the two of you discussing James’ lips?” Sirius said as he sauntered into the room. He was already packed and ready to go, James and Georgia were running behind because they had stayed up late. James had begged Georgia to teach him some Muggle card games, so they had been up for most of the night playing Go Fish and Rummy. Georgia had dominated James in Rummy, but he had been quite good at Go Fish, although he didn’t quite understand why the game was called ‘Go Fish’ since there weren’t any actual fish involved. Well, that had stumped Georgia as well, so they had been up even longer pondering the name of the children’s card game.

“Are you two finally done, or are Remus, Peter, and I going to be getting on the Hogwarts Express without you two?” Sirius asked impatiently, causing Georgia to roll her eyes. “Patience is a virtue you know.”

“Everyone knows that I’m not exactly virtuous.”

“Isn’t that the truth.” Georgia snapped her trunk lid shut, and James did the same. They had just enough time to grab a quick breakfast before getting onto the carriages that would be taking them to Hogsmeade Station.

Even with all of James’ assurances, Georgia was still worried that his parents wouldn’t like her. They were Purebloods, what if they had the same values as Lucius? Then again, they had raised James, and he had turned out alright so maybe everything would be okay.

Georgia hadn’t even realized that her hands were shaking until James took them into his own. “Are you really that nervous about meeting my parents?” He asked her, and Georgia took a deep breath. “I’m just used to people not accepting me James.” She said in a quiet voice. “The Slytherins don’t accept me because I’m a Muggle Born, my family doesn’t accept me because I’m a witch-”

“You have problems with your family?” James asked, his eyebrows furrowing together in concern. He knew that Sirius went through something similar, especially with his mother, Walburga Black, but he hoped that it wasn’t quite as bad with Georgia.

“Didn’t you ever wonder why I’ve spent Christmases at the castle? My father thinks that I’m some abomination of nature, that I shouldn’t even be alive.” Georgia hadn’t meant to tell him, it had all just come spilling out. Right now she was really glad that Remus, Sirius, and Peter had taken another carriage, she didn’t want them to hear all of this too.

James was left floored, he had had no idea that Georgia’s life had been so bad. He knew that the Slytherins gave her a hard time, but he thought that she would at least get a reprieve from it all when she went home for the summer holidays. “Georgia...do they hurt you?”

Georgia bit her lip, hesitating before she nodded her head. “My dad more than anyone else. He’ll hit me and stuff...my grandmother will force me to sit through exorcisms, she’s convinced that I’m possessed by the Devil or something like that.”

Georgia’s grandmother was an extremely strict Christian, and when she had been told where Georgia would be going to school, she had stated that Georgia had made a deal with Satan and that she needed to be purged of the darkness that was in her soul.

“Remus has an aunt that’s like that, his Mum is a Muggle. I can only imagine what the woman would do if she knew that Rem was a werewolf on top of it all, God only knows what she would do, probably try to perform some exorcisms herself.” James squeezed Georgia’s hand lightly. “I’m sorry Georgie, I wish that I had known that you were going through that.”

“It’s not your fault, I didn’t tell any of you because I didn’t want you guys to be feeling sorry for me. Promise that you won’t tell the others, especially not Sirius, Merlin only knows what he would do if he knew.”

“Well...maybe you should tell him. He kind of goes through a similar situation with his mother because he isn’t a Slytherin and he doesn’t share the same blood purity values that she does. You two could help each other.”

“I don’t know James…”

“Georgia, I know the both of you, I know that you two are treated like shit and that you both like to act brave and like nothing is wrong and like life is perfect, but that’s all that it is, an act.” James stared out the window for a moment. “You both need someone to rely on, because if you don’t, if you just go through it alone, than it’s going to be the death of you, of both of you.”

The carriages arrived at the station, ending their discussion. Was James right? Should she tell Sirius? Georgia didn’t want anyone to worry about her, or try to fix things. Besides, it wasn’t like there was anything that anyone could do about it anyway. No, Georgia wasn’t going to bother anyone else with her troubles, it was bad enough that James knew about it, Georgia wasn’t going to burden anyone else with her troubles. She had managed this long without leaning on anyone, she would be able to make it, somehow.


	9. Chapter 9

The train ride was spent with Georgia and Remus reading, and James and Sirius planning ways to prank Lucius and his little buddies.

"Bet you anything that Lucius is going to be missing a prefect's badge when we get back." Sirius predicted as he bit into a treat that he had gotten from the trolley lady.

"It's not like he doesn't deserve it." Remus said, looking up from his book briefly. "In my opinion, it should have never been given to him to begin with. Honestly, I have no clue what Slughorn was thinking."

"He wasn't." James said with a snort. "Either that or he just wanted to get in good standings with the Malfoy family." 

"At least we won't have to worry about him becoming Head Boy." Georgia put in. She yawned a moment after and Sirius chuckled softly. "Tired?" He teased her, and Georgia's cheeks flushed momentarily. "Just a bit." 

Sirius patted his lap. "I'll have you know that I make a perfect pillow. Blacks are known for their soft laps." 

Georgia wanted to decline, but honestly, she was just too tired to. So she nestled her head in his lap, and Sirius absentmindedly started to play with her blonde hair, lightly running his fingers through it.

"It's a wonder that the two of you aren't dating yet." James said teasingly, and Sirius stuck his tongue out at him. "Oh shut it. At least I have a better chance of getting a girlfriend than you do. I don't pine over just one girl. I'm going to Hogsmeade with Mary MacDonald our next Hogsmeade trip you know." 

"Mary?" James asked him in surprise, and Sirius nodded his head. "Like I said, I don't just pine after one girl like you do, James. I make sure that the female population knows that I'm available. You do that and they come flocking to you." 

"Lily is the only girl for me." James said confidently. "You just wait, one of these days she's going to see how great I really am and she's going to regret all of the times that she's spent turning me away." 

"Maybe if you actually matured, then you would have a chance with her." Remus added, which caused James and him to start bickering playfully.

Georgia's eyes were closed, but she wasn't asleep. So Sirius was going to be going out with Mary MacDonald then. She should have been happy for him, but she didn't. Instead, she felt….sad maybe? With a little bit of jealousy thrown in there. It wasn't Sirius that she was jealous of, it was Mary. But it wasn't like she had a crush on Sirius. Right...she could try to fool herself, but the truth was that she liked Sirius, as more than friends. She would never tell him though because the truth of the matter was that she thought- no, she  _ knew _ that Sirius couldn't like someone like her. He wouldn't want someone damaged like she was, someone who couldn't defend herself from the people that gave her a hard time. Well, she could have defended herself, but there was this little voice in the back of her head, a voice that told her that she was nothing, that she deserved everything that had happened to her, and that she would deserve everything that was to come. 

"We should try and find someone for Georgie." Georgia tuned back in to Sirius' voice. "We wouldn't want her to turn into one of those lonely old spinsters that has a dozen cats." 

James snorted at that. "But she loves cats."

"Lonely old spinster then." Sirius corrected himself. "Who should we try to pair her with though?" 

"There's that Ravenclaw boy who's been staring at her." Peter piped up. Georgia hadn't noticed any boy staring at her a lot. Then again, she usually didn't pay attention to things like that anyway.

Sirius gagged. "That seventh year? Try again Peter." 

"Maybe we should pair her up with Moony here." James said playfully, and even though Georgia couldn't see it, she could tell that Remus was blushing. She herself was trying not to blush, and she desperately hoped that it was working. 

Remus cleared his throat awkwardly. "Yeah, I don't think that would work, considering that she's like a sister to me. It would be like dating my cousin or something like that, and incest isn't something that I'm particularly interested in, thank you very much. Besides, it's not like we have to start dating right away. You three do what you want, but I would prefer to wait a little bit before I start dating." 

"Spoilsport." 

Georgia had a feeling that Sirius was sticking his tongue out again. 

"If you're concerned about her that much, why don't  _ you  _ go out with her?" Remus demanded. 

"Eh, she's not really my type." Sirius replied. "She's a great friend and all, but she kind of just lets people push her around. I want someone that isn't afraid to stick up for themselves, you know. Plus blondes aren't really my thing, I prefer brunettes." 

It was at that moment that Georgia knew for one hundred percent that she would never have a chance with Sirius. He thought that she was weak and couldn't stand up for herself? Well, she would show him, she would show all of them. With that thought in her mind, Georgia finally fell into a fitful slumber.

  
  
  


"Jamesie!!" 

An older woman was waving to James as the group got off of the train. The man standing beside her looked almost exactly like James, so Georgia assumed that they were Euphemia and Fleamont Potter, James' parents.

"You must be Georgia!" Euphemia gave Georgia a warm hug. "James has told us a lot about you, almost as much as he talks about that Evans girl, it makes me wonder if he's having conflicted feelings-"

"Mum!" James' face was about as red as it could possibly get. "Shouldn't we be getting home?" 

"Oh yes, my goodness, you lot must be starving, Felix is making us some soup and hit sandwiches, it should be ready by the time that we get back."

"Felix?" Georgia asked as she walked beside James as they exited King's Cross Station and out to the slightly packed parking lot. It seemed that everyone was coming out for the holidays.

"Felix is our house elf." James explained. "He's getting on in years, but he's still a bloody good elf, you'll like him."

And like him Georgia did. The wizened elf met them at the door, bowing. "The soup is almost done, Masters and Misses." 

"Excellent, thank you, Felix." Euphemia led the way inside, hanging up her coat. "James, why don't you show everyone their rooms? You boys will be doubling up, I hope that's alright." 

"Perfectly fine." Remus assured her. "Thank you so much for having us."

"It's no trouble at all dear. James is always so bored at our Christmas Ball, it'll be nice for him to have someone to talk to. I'm assuming that he told you about the ball?" 

They all nodded their heads.

"We got Georgia a dress especially for it." James spoke up. "Wait till you see it, Mum, it makes her look like an actress from one of those Muggle movies."

Georgia blushed as she shook her head. "I wouldn't go quite that far." She insisted, but Euphemia shook her head. "Nonsense Georgia, I'm sure that you look divine in it. James had the dress sent here, but I haven't looked at it yet, I thought that you should be here for that. You'll have to show it to me after dinner. But for right now, let's get your trunks up to your rooms, and then we'll get some food into your bellies." 

Dinner turned out to be a beef and vegetable stew, hot ham sandwiches, and salad. It was all delicious, the meat was done perfectly, the vegetables in the soup were tender, and the lettuce in the salad was nice and crisp. They definitely ate their fill too. When their soup or salad bowl was empty, Euphemia had Felix fill it up again. Finally, Georgia had to decline, insisting that she was stuffed. 

"But you're so thin." Euphemia frowned as she stared at Georgia. "Don't you worry, by the time that you get back to school, we'll make sure to have some meat on those bones." 

Georgia had no doubt of that. If all of their meals were like this, than she was going to gain weight in no time.

Once dinner was finished, Euphemia went with Georgia up to her room so that the younger girl could show her the dress that she had gotten for the ball. 

"Oh darling, that looks absolutely divine on you!" Euphemia gasped as Georgia pulled the dress out of the box."The color will match your eyes perfectly. Oh, I can't wait to see the looks on people's faces when they see you in this! On the day of the ball, I'll do your hair and we'll put a bit of makeup on you too. I think that we'll stick with neutral colors to define your natural beauty.

Georgia was surprised by everything that Euphemia was willing to do for her. "You really don't have to do all of that you know-"

"Nonsense. I've always wanted a daughter you know, but after we had James, nothing seemed to come of it. Just let me pamper you while you're here, this might be the only chance I have to do it."

Georgia relented, smiling at her. "Alright. I have a feeling that you wouldn't have let me say no on the matter anyways."

"Smart girl, James could really take some lessons from you." 

"I mean, I try, but James only hears what he wants to hear. You should see it when Remus and I try to get him to study. And Sirius is no better."

"I can imagine. Those two are bad influences on each other. Thank goodness they have you and that Lupin boy to at least try and rein them in." 

Euphemia and Georgia talked late into the night, and Georgia was reminded of what it was like having a mother. A real mother, not a woman who would mistreat their daughter because they weren't perfect in the mother's eyes.

"Goodness, look at the time." Euphemia stood up from where she had been seated on the bed. "I should let you get some sleep. Tomorrow we're going to be going shopping for a Christmas tree, Fleamont wants to do things the Muggle way this year. Sleep well dear." Euphemia pressed a kiss to Georgia's head before leaving. Georgia then got her pajamas on and got comfortable underneath the thick comforter, a smile on her lips as she drifted off into a peaceful slumber.


	10. Chapter 10

Georgia was being run ragged, she was helping Euphemia to get the house ready for the Ball, and since she was still underage and couldn't do any magic, everything that she did had to be done manually. 

"Just a little bit to the left James. Sirius, move your end down a little bit." Euphemia had tasked James and Sirius with hanging up Christmas decorations, but they had to be placed in a certain way. While the two boys were doing that, Georgia and Remus were helping Felix to polish silver.

"Master Lupin and Mistress Kelly do not have to help Felix." The house-elf had tried to protest, but Georgia shook her head as she rolled up her sleeves. "It's alright Felix, we want to help you, besides, I would rather be helping you than the boys, Merlin only knows what kind of trouble they'll be causing."

James had already caused flowers to sprout out of Peter's hair, although Georgia had a suspicion that it had really been Sirius and James had just taken the fall for it. Sirius could do no wrong in Euphemia's eyes, it was like he was this perfect angel or something. Quite honestly it made James a little bit jealous, but it wasn't like there was anything that he could do about it.

Georgia and Remus helped Felix clean silver, and by the time that they were finished a couple of hours later, Georgia's arms felt numb from how hard she had been scrubbing. 

Remus groaned as they walked out to the little garden. "I can't feel my arms." He complained, and Georgia laughed a bit. "It would seem that you and I are in the same boat." She said as they both sat down on a stone bench. Georgia stretched her arms out, sighing softly. 

"Something on your mind?" Remus asked, and Georgia shook her head. "No, not really." She told him, which was a total lie. She was going through the conversation that she had eavesdropped on in the train, really she hadn't been able to stop thinking about it. "Actually...Remus, do....do you think that I'm weak?"

"What?" Remus furrowed his eyebrows together as he looked at her. "What makes you say..." His eyes widened in realization. "You weren't asleep, were you? You heard us talking."

Georgia nodded her head as she looked down at her hands. "I'm sorry for eavesdropping but I couldn't help it."

Remus sighed and he put a hand on her shoulder. "Georgia...you like Sirius, don't you?"

"It doesn't matter if I do or not, he said it himself that I'm not his type, so there's really no reason for me to remain hung up on him, is there?"

"Georgia-"

"Please Remus, it's fine, I'll move on." She waved her hand dismissively. "So, who all do you think is going to be coming to the party?"

Remus didn't say anything about the rather abrupt change of subject. "A lot of Pureblood families, Sirius' family is always invited, but they rarely show up, the Averys, the Malfoys-"

Georgia wrinkled her nose. "You mean that I'm going to have to put up with Lucius?"

"His father makes him be civil whenever he's at the Potter house, I daresay that Abraxas Malfoy is the only one that can keep Lucius under control. He doesn't like Muggle Borns, but he's at least civil towards them, and won't outright insult them like Lucius does."

"Well, that might make things a little bit better than. Who else is gonna be coming?"

"The Lestranges usually come, Rodolphus is going to be bringing his new wife Bellatrix. Now that's a woman that you're going to be wanting to steer clear of. She's even worse than Sirius, they're related, cousins actually." Remus shuddered a little bit. "I'm telling you, she's downright looney."

"So steer clear of the Lestranges then." Georgia said, making a mental note in her mind. She had no idea what Bellatrix looked like, but she was fairly certain that she would be able to spot a psycho woman when she saw one.

"So Georgia." They were all gathered around for dinner that evening, this time is was roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and peas. Fleamont had been asking Georgia different questions, what house she was in, if she liked Quidditch, etc. "What's your family like?" Fleamont Potter was also quite interested in Muggle things, and the way that they lived. 

Georgia paused a moment when he asked her about her family. Naturally, she couldn't tell them everything, especially not the bad things, so she tried to filter about as much of it as she could. "My mother works as a nurse, my father's a banker. I don't have other siblings, but my parents have been talking about trying again."  _ Because I was too much of a disappointment to them and they want a child that's normal _ . This last part she said in her head as she took a bite of mashed potatoes. 

"Maybe we could meet them sometime." Euphemia said, and Georgia bit her lip. "They don't really understand the way that the wizarding world works, they're a bit confused by it all." Georgia's appetite was suddenly gone. "Excuse me, I'm not feeling very well, I think that I'm going to go and lay down for a little while." Georgia got up and left the room, hoping that no one would follow her.

However, it would seem that Sirius was too nosy for his own good, and he followed Georgia up to her bedroom, closing the door behind him. "Okay, the way that you were talking downstairs was highly suspect."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Georgia said. "And you shouldn't come into a person's bedroom without getting their permission first, it's quite rude you know."

"Okay then, can I come into your room?"

"No, you can't. As I told everyone when I was downstairs, I'm not feeling good, and I would prefer to be alone right now."

"That's bullshit." Sirius said with a scoff. "When you're sick, you get as cuddly as a koala bear, you practically latched yourself onto me when you had a cold a couple of weeks ago. Now, are you going to tell me what's really going on, or am I going to have to do some digging?"

Georgia shook her head as she got some pajamas out. "Why do you even care Sirius?"

"Georgia, you're my friend-"

"I don't want you to feel any sorrier for me than you already do."

"What's that supposed to mean-"

"I know, Sirius!" Georgia snapped at him. "I know, okay?! I heard you guys talking on the train, I know how weak and pathetic that you think I am, so don't even try to deny it. You wanna know why I let people push me around? Why I never fight back? Because it  _ never does me any bloody good.  _ It never did me any good with my parents, so why the hell would it work with anyone else? The only thing that fighting back has ever done me is get me even more hurt in the end." She stubbornly wiped away the tears that had been forming in her eyes, and she didn't dare look at Sirius.

"Georgia..." Sirius spoke softly. Clearly, she had been hiding a lot of things from them, and Sirius didn't know what to think about that. How bad had her home life been, and why did she think that she couldn't trust them with it. "Georgia, whatever it is that you're going through, we can help you with it-"

"Trust me Sirius, there's nothing that you can do for me." Tears dripped down the blonde girl's face, and Sirius felt his heartbreaking. "Please..." Georgia whispered. "Just go."

Silently, Sirius backed out of the room. He should have seen the signs sooner. She was clearly being abused at home, just like he himself was. So why hadn't he seen it? Seen that she needed help? Well, Sirius was determined to help her now. He knew that he had made a mistake, Georgia wasn't pathetic, she was incredibly brave and strong, and somehow, Sirius was going to make sure that she saw that part of herself, no matter what it might take. 


	11. Chapter 11

The day of the ball finally came around, and Euphemia was helping Georgia to get ready. "You're going to look absolutely gorgeous in this." Euphemia assured her as she helped Georgia to get her dress on. "You're going to catch the eye of every young man there tonight, you mark my words on that."

"Except the one that really matters." Georgia said sadly. "It seems that I'm not brave enough for his taste, he won't see me as anything other than a friend. Not that I blame him, it's not like I stand up for myself."

Euphemia tutted and cupped Georgia's cheeks so that the blonde was forced to look into the eyes of the older woman. "I believe that you are incredibly brave Georgia, but your true bravery is still inside, just waiting to come out. It will show itself eventually, when the time is right." She released Georgia's face and began to work on her hair next, styling it so that it hung in loose curls. "Your hair is so thin, I have a potion that can thicken it up a bit, remind me to give you a few bottles of it before you go back to school."

Euphemia was, at least in Georgia's opinion, a combination of a doting mother and the aunt that everyone loved. After adding a bit of makeup, Euphemia announced that Georgia was finally perfect. "Those boys are going to be stunned when they see you."

Well, Georgia wouldn't go so far as to say _that_ , but Euphemia looked so happy with her work that Georgia didn't say anything. As she walked down the grand staircase, she thanked Merlin that she was wearing flats and not high heels, her balance was terrible enough as it was. James saw her walking down the stairs, and he nudged Peter and Remus, both of whom looked up at her, their jaws dropping.

"Bloody hell..." Peter murmured, and Remus nodded his head in agreement. "You look stunning Georgie, absolutely stunning." He said, causing Georgia to blush darkly. "Thanks, you all look really great yourselves. Where's Sirius?"

"He's still getting ready." James said as he rolled his eyes. "Honestly, that man takes longer than a fashionista to get ready."

"Spreading vicious rumors about me, are we, James?" Sirius asked as he appeared at the top of the stairs in his suit.

"Are they rumors if they're true?" James countered, causing Sirius to laugh. "Touché." He said before turning to Georgia. "You look marvelous, Georgia." He said as he walked down the stairs. He was about to say something else when Euphemia herded them all into the ballroom so that they could greet the guests that had just begun to arrive.

Georgia met a lot of people that night,mostly people that came from rich, pureblood families. None of them really seemed to mind the fact that she was a Muggle-born, although most of them were surprised to find out that she had been sorted into Slytherin. Then came the moment that Georgia had been dreading. Lucius Malfoy had arrived with his father, Abraxas. Just like Remus had stated, Abraxas was more civil to Georgia then Lucius was, and even Lucius himself was far less nasty to Georgia then he normally was.

"I received a letter from the Headmaster about my son's behavior towards you." Abraxas said to Georgia. "My sincerest apologies, I had raised him to be better then that. You may not be as high up as we are, but you still deserve some sort of respect. His behavior was unbecoming of that of a prefect, so I requested that the Headmaster strip him of his title."

"It's no worry, Mr. Malfoy." Georgia assured him. "Lucius is young, and young people tend to be brash, often acting before they think. I know that I have been a culprit of that many times, unfortunately."

"Georgia." Remus scurried up to her. "We have a slight problem." He murmured in her ear. "A Sirius problem. HIs parents just showed up."

"I see." Georgia smiled at Abraxas. "Please excuse me, but there is something that I must attend to. It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Malfoy." She gave him a small curtsy before following Remus. Sure enough, there stood Orion and Walburga Black, with their youngest son Regulus in tow. If Georgia recalled correctly, Regulus was either a first or second, a Slytherin, she remembered seeing him in the common room once or twice, he had always been cordial towards her.

"What are they doing here?" Georgia hissed. She didn't know the whole story, but she knew that things between Sirius and his parents were tense because he hadn't been sorted into Slytherin, like the rest of his family.

"I don't think that Sirius told the Potters about the problems that he's been having with his family." Remus muttered.

"The Blacks are blood purists, aren't they? What are they doing at a party that's being hosted by blood traitors?"

"Walburga always enjoys showing off her wealth to others, it doesn't matter who it is."

Georgia's eyes scanned the room until they landed on Sirius, who had stiffened upon seeing his family enter the ballroom. If Georgia didn't know better, she would say that she saw fear in the eyes of the oldest Black son. Georgia then realized that it _was_ fear that she saw in his eyes, a fear that she knew all too well, a fear that she herself often had in her eyes. She remembered what James had told her on the carriage ride, how she and Sirius went through similar experiences.

Georgia quickly made her way over to Sirius, taking his hand, which felt icy cold. "Are you alright?" She asked him quietly, and Sirius scoffed lightly. "I'm just peachy."

"Hey, look at me. Deep breaths, Siri."

His grip on her hand tightened as he inhaled deeply. "What are they doing here? They've never come before, why now-"

"Hey, it's gonna be okay. I don't know why they're here, but it's gonna be okay, alright?"

Sirius nodded his head, his grip on her hand becoming almost painfully tight as his family made their way over to them."

"Sirius." His mother greeted them, and one might think that the smile on Walburga's face was a friendly one, but Georgia saw right through it. It was clear to Georgia that for whatever reason, she detested her eldest son.

"Mother." SIrius said through gritted teeth. "I wasn't aware that you were friends with the Potters."

"Oh, you know that I never miss out on a good party, and the Potter Christmas Ball is always the talk of the town. WHo's your little friend here?"

"This is Georgia Kelly, a good friend of mine."

"Kelly. I don't think that I've ever heard of that surname."

"I'm a Muggle-born ma'am." Georgia said, and Walburga's demeanour changed entirely. "I see. I suppose that you are in Hufflepuff, or Gryffindor like my son."

"I'm in Slytherin actually."

"Impossible!" Walburga's voice started to get louder, and people began to look at them.

"Walburga..." Orion murmured in his wife's ear. "Don't be making a scene-"

"Oh, shut up Orion! A Mudblood, in _Slytherin_?! This has to be some kind of mistake! As soon as we get home, I'm sending a letter to the Headmaster about this filth-"

"That's enough, Mother!" Sirius snapped. "You can mock me all that you want to, but I will _not_ tolerate you speaking badly of Georgia! She's a better witch than you could ever be! She's kind and caring, and she ins't a bitch like you are!"

"Walburga." Fleamont put a hand on Sirius' shoulder. "I think that you should go. Georgia, please walk with Sirius out to the gardens so that he can calm down a bit."

Georgia nodded her head as she pulled Sirius out of the ballroom, the two teenagers had a lot to talk about.


	12. Chapter 12

TW: mentions of abuse

Georgia walked with Sirius out to the garden, sitting down with him on the same stone bench that she had sat on with Remus previously. "Are you okay?" She asked Sirius quietly, although she was fairly certain that he most definitely was  _ not  _ okay.

"I just don't understand what they're doing here." Sirius was gripping Georgia's hand tightly, but she didn't complain about his iron grip on her hand, she knew that he was deeply rattled by what had just happened. "They haven't come any other time, so why would they come now?"

"I don't know Sirius, I'm so sorry." Georgia murmured. She felt bad that she couldn't really do anything to comfort him.

"It's not your fault, I'm just sorry about what my mother said to you."

"It's not your fault, Sirius. It's fine, I've dealt with people like her before." She squeezed his hand comfortingly. "Don't worry about your mother, she doesn't know what she's talking about, she just likes to think that she's better than everyone else. I know that her words hurt you, but you need to make her think that they don't affect you. Trust me, Sirius, I'm speaking from experience."

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked in a puzzled tone, and Georgia sighed softly as she looked down at their intertwined fingers. "I...I haven't been completely honest with you." She said. "My...my life at home isn't the greatest. It's downright horrible actually. My family hates the fact that I'm a witch." Now that she was finally telling someone, the words just came pouring out of her, and she didn't know if she could stop even if she wanted to. "My father, he beats me whenever I go home for the summer. I never go home for Christmas, all of my Christmases since first year have been spent at the castle. I would spend my summers at the castle too if I could."

"Georgia..." Sirius didn't know what to say, he'd had no idea that her home life was this horrible. "I'm sorry, I didn't know-"

"It's not something that I really wanted you guys knowing. I guess that I let my pride get in the way, I didn't want you guys feeling sorry for me."

"Georgia...we could have tried to help you."

"It's not like there's anything that you can do about it." Georgia pointed out. "You can't make him change his ways or stop what he's doing."

"I could hex him." Sirius muttered. "I bet that one Bat Bogey Hex and he'll be changing his tune."

Georgia laughed softly. "I don't think that's a good idea, you'd get into a lot of trouble for hexing a Muggle. I appreciate the sentiment though."

"We should probably get back inside." Sirius sighed, and Georgia nodded. The two stood up, and Georgia reluctantly noticed that Sirius had released his grip on her hand. They walked back into the ballroom, and she noticed with relief that the Blacks had left.

Euphemia immediately made her way over to them. "Are you alright Sirius?" She asked him, and Sirius nodded his head. "Yes Mrs. Potter, I'm fine. I apologize for my mother's behavior tonight."

"There's a reason why I never invite her to these things." Euphemia muttered under her breath. "She looks for drama everywhere that she can. Is she like this at home too?"

"Worse."

Euphemia shook her head. "I'm sorry that the night was ruined you two."

"I still had a lovely time." Georgia assured her. "And there's still guests here, so the night isn't done yet."

Music was playing, a slow song. Couples were dancing, and Georgia smiled as she watched Remus dancing with a blonde girl. Feeling a tap on her shoulder, she turned to see Sirius bowing to her. "May I have this dance?" He asked her, a smile on his face as he stretched his hand out to her.

Georgia giggled before taking his hand. "You may." She told him and Sirius led her onto the dance floor.

"Georgia...." Sirius bit his lip as they danced, one of his hands settling on her waist. "Look, about what you heard on the train...I'm sorry, what I said about you, I didn't mean it-"

"I get it." Georgia shook her head. "You were probably just trying to get the others to back off of you. You and I are best friends, it would be weird if we were to date."

"Yeah." Sirius chuckled a bit. "How weird would that be, right? Almost as weird as you and James being together."

Georgia gagged at that. "Oh Merlin, I can't get that image out of my mind. Thanks for that."

Sirius laughed. "Is it safe to say that I scarred you?" 

"For life."

  
  


Two weeks after they got back to school, Sirius started to date Marlene McKinnon. People called them the power couple of Hogwarts, and every time that Georgia saw them together, her heart broke a little bit more.

"You should have told him how you felt about him at the Ball." Remus told her. The two were sitting in the dorm, studying for an upcoming DADA test. Sirius was off with Marlene somewhere, and James and Peter were doing Godric only knew what. To be honest, Georgia probably didn't want to know what it was that the two of them were getting up to.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Georgia stated as she flipped the page of her textbook. 

"Georgia, I see the way that you look at Sirius whenever he's with Marlene. It physically hurts you to see the two of them together. You like Sirius, but you won't admit it to anyone, including yourself."

"Remus, the only feelings that I have for Sirius are platonic ones. We're close friends, and that's all that we're ever going to be so you might as well drop it, alright?" Georgia's voice got a bit stern, and Remus fell silent.

Georgia sighed, closing her book. "Look, Remus, I'm sorry, okay? I just...I don't see any point in talking about it. It doesn't matter what I might feel towards Sirius, because he quite clearly doesn't feel anything towards me, not romantically anyway. Besides, he and Marlene are a lot alike, I'm sure that she'll be good for him."

"She is a lot like him, which is exactly  _ why  _ he shouldn't be with her." Remus retorted, and Georgia raised an eyebrow at the sassy tone in his voice. "Um...okay?"

"Georgia, she lets him do whatever he wants, he needs someone that isn't afraid to rein him in when his antics start to get out of hand. Why do you think that they keep me around? I'm the brains of the group, I'm the one that has to try and talk some sense into them when their pranks could wind up seriously hurting someone. James and Sirius don't think before they do something, and Peter is too timid to try and go against them, so he just goes along for the ride. You and I, we're the only ones that can talk any sense into them."

"James calls you the dad of the group for a reason." Georgia pointed out. "Look Rem, I get what you're trying to do here, and I appreciate it, but you might as well forget the idea of Sirius and I ever being together, we simply aren't compatible."

The tone in her voice said that the matter was closed, and Georgia turned back to her work, although it was quite some time before she was able to get Sirius Black out of her head.


	13. Chapter 13

Sirius was in the common room with the other Marauders, Marlene was off somewhere with Lily, and Georgia was up in the dorm, she claimed that she had some studying that she needed to get done and she couldn’t focus when the boys were jabbering like a flock of ducks.

“Is it just me or has Georgia been ignoring us lately?” Sirius asked the others. He was draped over one of the couches, and Remus rolled his eyes from his spot on the floor in front of the fireplace, a book in his lap, and a chocolate bar at his side. “You can’t really blame her Sirius, you haven’t exactly been spending a lot of time with her ever since you and Marlene got together.”

“Well, it’s not my fault! If she wanted to spend time with me, she should have just said something.”

“She shouldn’t have to ask for your time.” James pointed out. “You still spend time with us without us having to beg for your attention, so there’s no reason why she should be groveling at your feet.”

“If I didn’t know better, then I would say that you’re mad at me James.”

James didn’t answer. In his opinion, Sirius had been acting like a prick to Georgia. As soon as Sirius had realized that he was interested in Marlene and he just had to have her, it was like he had just thrown Georgia to the curb. James didn’t blame Georgia for trying to avoid Sirius. For Merlin’s sake, James was chasing after Lily Evans but he still made time for Georgia and all of his other friends as well.

James stood up, muttering something about how he had been feeling really tired lately and was going to be going to bed early and he went up to the dorm, leaving Remus and Peter to deal with Sirius.

He found Georgia laying on her stomach on her bed, flipping through her Charms textbook, and she looked up as he entered the room. “What’s got you looking all pissed off?” She asked him as he sat next to her on the bed, and she sat up, looking at him in concern.

“Sirius has become a real prick as of late.” He muttered. “He’s trying to blame  _ you  _ for the fact that the two of you don’t hang out anymore. Can you believe it?”

Georgia sighed as she closed her book and set it to the side. “It honestly doesn’t surprise me.” She admitted to him. “Sirius doesn’t like to think that he’s at fault for things. I suppose that I’m partly to blame for this, though, it’s not like I’ve made a conscious effort to spend time with him.”

“It’s like he thinks that you’re helpless without him...I’m not nearly that bad am I?”

“No, not even close.” Georgia placed a hand on his shoulder. “James, he’s probably just going through a phase. We’re getting into our teenage years, all those hormones and stuff are going to be all over the place, his testosterone is going to be at its peak in a couple of years, and that’s going to make him extremely cocky, even more cocky then he already is now. You’re going to have moments like that yourself, although I daresay that it won’t be nearly as bad. Your mother will knock it out of you as soon as it starts to arise and you start to get too out of control. It might be worse for Sirius because he’ll be doing things to purposefully defy his family, and that will land him in a load of trouble. And I’m not just talking about harmless pranks either.”

James groaned as he laid back on the bed. “Why can’t things just stay like they were when we all first became friends? Things were perfect back then.”

“Because we’re growing up James, and when people grow up, they start to change. You know what’s not going to change though?”

“What’s that?”

“You’re always going to be my brother, and there isn’t a single thing on this Earth that’s going to be able to change that.”

The two embraced, and Georgia sighed as she laid her head on James’ shoulder. She knew that while things may seem hard right now, that they would get better, they  _ had  _ to get better.

  
  


Sirius and Marlene just seemed to be getting closer to each other as each day passed, and honestly, it was starting to get a little bit sickening.

“Maybe she has him under a love potion.” Remus suggested. The group was up in the dorm playing Exploding Snaps with the exception of Sirius, who was once more off somewhere with Marlene. It was like Sirius couldn’t function without Marlene these days, often Georgia would walk into the common room with Remus or James to see the two snogging each others faces off.

Georgia had also been spending less time with Peter recently. She couldn’t explain it really, but Peter was...well, he was changing, for lack of a better term. Just in the way that he was talking to her, the way that he was acting around her, it was almost creepy. Like the other day at lunch, he had sat next to Georgia, and had placed his hand on her leg. Remus had seemed to notice this change and rarely left her alone with Peter anymore, but James didn’t seem to realize that anything was wrong, not even when Remus tried to point things out to him.

Georgia never said anything to James about it, she didn’t want to be the cause of any trouble. Besides, it was entirely possible that she was just imagining things or overthinking the whole situation...right?

  
  


Winter turned into spring, but Peter’s treatment of Georgia wasn’t really getting any better, in fact, it was starting to get worse. Now he was openly asking her to go out with him, at least once or twice a week, and every time, Georgia’s answer was the same. That she wasn’t romantically interested in Peter, that she didn’t see him as anything other then a friend.

Try as Remus might, he couldn’t be around Georgia all of the time, there were occasions that they had different classes after all, and one day, Peter had cornered Georgia in the hallway. “Oh come on, Georgia. What harm could one date possibly do?”

“Peter, I’ve already told you no!” Georgia said in exasperation, he was really starting to get on her nerves at this point. “I don’t see you like that, I don’t see you as anything other than a friend, and now I don’t even know if I want to see you as that anymore!”

“Hey punk, I think that she told you to get lost.” A boy said. He was a Slytherin, a fifth-year. “So why don’t you just listen to the little lady and move it along huh?”

The boy was buff, a beater on the Slytherin team, and Peter squeaked nervously before quickly running away. 

The boy turned to Georgia. “Are you okay?” He asked her, and Georgia nodded her head. “Uh, yeah, I’m fine.” She was a bit nervous herself, given that she didn’t really have the best of experiences with Slytherins in the past. 

“I’m Brian.” He gave her a kind smile. “Brian Bones.”

“Georgia Kelly.”

“I know who you are, I’ve been watching you.” He suddenly realized what he had said, and he chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head. “Sorry, that came out a lot creepier than I intended it to, I only meant to say that you’ve caught my eye once or twice. Can’t really blame me though, pretty as you are.”

Georgia blushed darkly as she tucked her hair behind her ear. “Um...thanks, I guess.”

“Hey, um, would you maybe want to go to Hogsmeade sometime? Not as a date or anything like that, but maybe as a chance to get to know each other better? I know that our house hasn’t really treated you the best, and if you’ll let me, I’d like a chance to prove myself, to show you that I’m not like Malfoy and the others.”

Georgia bit her lip, considering it. Like he had said, it wouldn’t be an actual date, not like what Peter had been trying to force her to do. And who knew? This could actually turn out really well. “Alright.” She said, giggling as Brian grinned widely. “Great! We can meet at the Three Broomsticks around one on Saturday, maybe get some food while we talk?”

“Food sounds perfect.”

“Awesome, see you then.” Brian walked away, and Georgia smiled softly to herself, wondering what exactly the upcoming weekend would be bringing her.


	14. Chapter 14

"What's got you all giddy?" It was Saturday morning, and Georgia was getting herself ready in the dorm, running a brush through her long, blonde hair before tying it up in a french braid. Remus was watching, giving her an odd look. Georgia was unusually happy this morning, considering everything that was happening with Sirius and Marlene.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Georgia responded. "I'm as happy as I normally am."

"Really? Because of late, your happiness seemed to consist of you being all depressed about Sirius dating Marlene."

"Remus, Sirius doesn't like me, I understand that. It's time for me to move on."

Realization filled the young werewolf's eyes. "Who is it?" 

"What do you mean?"

"Georgie, come on. You're getting all dressed up, you're as giddy as a goose. It's a Hogsmeade weekend, so you're clearly going with someone, so who's the lucky bloke?"

"All right, all right, but don't tell the others, especially James. You know how he can go into overprotective older brother mode. The guy's name is Brian Bones, he's a fifth-year in Slytherin. It's not an actual date, we're going as friends, to learn a little bit more about each other."

"At least one of us is going to be having some fun. Sirius is going with Marlene, and James is probably going to be chasing after Lily for most of the time, which means that I'm going to be stuck with Peter."

"I thought that you liked Peter." Georgia didn't say anything about her feelings towards the smaller boy. His odd behaviour toward her had been growing even odder as of late, and she even thought that he had started following her places, because he would just randomly show up in places that she happened to be and start talking to her. 

"I do like him, but it's just....I don't know, it feels like he's changing, if that makes sense."

"I know what you mean. He's tried flirting with me multiple times, won't let up with it. It's getting borderline creepy. The other day when we were in the Great Hall eating, I felt him put his hand on my knee. I would talk to James about it, but it's like Peter is his child, James can't find anything wrong with him, and I don't think that he ever will."

It may have sounded a bit mean, but personally, Georgia wouldn't have minded if they just broke things off with Peter completely, especially with the way that he had been acting recently. 

"You know, Amos Diggory came up to me the other day." Remus said slowly, like he was trying to choose his words carefully. "Said that he saw Peter hanging around with a group of Slytherins."

Georgia frowned a bit. "I wonder why. The only people that I've ever seen Peter hang out with is you guys."

"And these Slytherins were no good, too. Friends of Malfoy."

Now, this _did_ concern Georgia. Lucius was still mighty pissed off about having lost his prefect privileges, because with that he also lost any chance of becoming Head Boy. He took it out on Georgia any chance that he could, so the boys had spent more time around her than usual to make sure that Lucius wouldn't try anything to hurt her. 

"Please be careful Georgia." Remus warned her. "I don't know who this Bones fellow is, so I don't know if he's friends with Malfoy or not."

"Don't worry, I'll be careful." Georgia assured him before kissing him on the cheek. "I'll see you later. Try and have at least a little bit of fun today."

Brian was waiting for Georgia in the Great Hall, and his face lit up when he saw her. "There you are. I was beginning to think that you were going to stand me up."

"Sorry about that, I had some pressing things to talk about with my friend Remus."

"Everything okay?"

"Everything is fine, we're just...a bit concerned about a friend of ours, that's all. But it's nothing that we can't handle. You ready to go?"

"More than ready." The two walked out to the carriages, and from a distance, Lucius Malfoy watched them with a smirk on his face. So far everything was going to plan. And if things continued to work out in his favor, then Georgia Kelly would regret the day that she had decided to come to Hogwarts.

"So tell me about yourself."

The two were seated in a booth in _The Three Broomsticks_ , and Brian sipped on his butterbeer. "I want to know more about you. What's your family like? What do you want to do when you leave Hogwarts?"

"So many questions." Georgia teased him, causing Brian to blush. "Sorry, I'm just naturally curious. I guess that I should have been sorted into Ravenclaw instead of Slytherin."

"Let's see here...my family. Well, I'm an only child, and my family, well, they're Muggles and weren't really all that supportive of my being a witch. As for what I want to do when I leave Hogwarts...I don't really know about that yet. It's still pretty early in my education after all, but I suppose that being a Magizoologist might be in the cards for me, I seem to have an affinity for animals."

"Well, I think that you would be pretty great at anything that you would choose to do."

"Flattery will get you everywhere you know."

"Well, why do you think that I-" Brian was interrupted as Sirius and James burst in, making a beeline right for her. Georgia groaned inwardly, she knew that James would have a lot of questions about why Georgia was hanging out with a boy that wasn't in their little friend group. But it would seem that those questions would be waiting for a later time. Both Sirius and James looked absolutely panicked, and Georgia would have suspected that they were pulling a prank on her, but you could barely find Sirius without Marlene these days, making Georgia think that it was something really serious. 

"Georgia, you've got to come quickly!" James didn't even look in Brian's direction, which cemented it even more for Georgia that something was seriously wrong. "It's Remus. He and Peter ran into a few Slytherins. Peter managed to get away, but Remus was beaten up really badly. Somehow they found out about his...furry little secret."

"Shit..." Georgia quickly stood up, sending Brian an apologetic glance. "I'm really sorry Brian, but I'm afraid that I need to cut this short."

"Is everything okay?" Brian asked her. "Is there anything that I can do to help?"

"I appreciate the offer, but this is something that we need to take care of ourselves. I'm going to have to take a raincheck. This was lovely, I'm really sorry." Georgia ran out after James and Sirius, who ran towards the Shrieking Shack. She saw Remus laying on the ground, curled up into a ball. The grass around him was dyed red with blood, but Georgia hardly paid attention to that. She sank down next to Remus. "Help me roll him onto his back." She ordered the boys. She had to see the extent of his injuries, and try to heal them as much as possible so that they could take him to Madame Pomfrey.

After the boys had rolled Remus onto his back, Georgia lifted his shirt up, revealing multiple bruises and gashes, causing her to curse once more. "I can heal a little bit of this, but not everything. You two need to go back to the castle, tell Madame Pomfrey what happened."

"We're not going to just leave you here." Sirius interjected, and Georgia shook her head. "We'll be fine, I'll take care of Remus as much as I possibly can. Just go!"

The urgency in her voice caused the two to take off like bullets, and Georgia looked down into the face of her injured friend. "Hold on Rem, everything is going to be okay, I promise."


	15. Chapter 15

TW: Mention of blood

The two third-year boys ran towards the castle like the bats of hell were chasing after them. The only thing that was on their minds was Remus and how they needed to get him help. They didn't even think about taking a carriage so when they reached the castle, they were so out of breath that it was a shock that neither of them had passed out. They weren't done yet, though. They ran through the castle, bumping into multiple students and accidentally pushing them to the ground.

"Hurry up, Sirius!" James called behind them. He was the faster of the two, and he reached the hospital wing a few moments before Sirius did. Madame Pomfrey looked up at the two of them in alarm. "There had better be a reason why you two just ran into my infirmary, Mister Potter and Mister Black."

"Oh trust us, there's a reason Madame Pomfrey." Sirius collapsed into a chair, panting heavily. "It's Remus. A couple of students cornered him, they know that he's a...a you know what, and they beat him up. It's really bad. Georgia's taking care of him right now, but we need you."

"Goodness gracious." Madame Pomfrey gasped, her face going pale. She immediately went to a cupboard, pulling out all sorts of vials and stuffing them into a bag. "I want you two to go and inform the Headmaster of what has happened. I'll go and tend to Remus." She left before either of the boys could say a word, and then off they went again, this time to Professor Dumbeldore's office.

Needless to say, the Headmaster was not happy to learn that students under his tutelage would so coldly attack another student. "I can assure the two of you that I will deal with these students accordingly. For right now, I want the two of you to return to your common room and wait there."

"But we can't just sit around and do nothing!" James exclaimed. "We have to make sure that Remus is okay!"

"Mister Lupin will be fine, he is in the very capable hands of Madame Pomfrey. But she needs to be able to do her work, and she won't be able to do that with the two of you hovering around her like a couple of mother hens. I know that the two of you care deeply about Mister Lupin, but you have to let us do our jobs, and we can't do that when there's a possibility of you getting in the way. " His voice was firm, the tone in it final, and the boys sighed in defeat. At first James thought that maybe they could sneak back to Hogsmeade, but Dumbledore was two steps ahead of them, and summoned McGonagall to his office so that she could escort the two of them back to their common room.

When they reached the common room and McGonagall left them there, assuring them that she would know the moment that they left, James started to pace back and forth, a worried look on his face. Lily, who was sitting in one of the chairs working on some Herbology homework, looked up at him in confusion. She was sitting right there and he hadn't even tried to flirt with her yet, meaning that something had to be wrong. "Potter...are you alright?"

"Of course he's not alright." Sirius said with a scoff, running a hand through his shoulder-length hair. "Nothing is alright, Evans. Remus was beaten nearly to a pulp, we don't know anything about his current condition, and we aren't going to know anything because Dumbledore is going to make sure that we don't leave this room."

"Evans, what are you even doing here?" James asked her. "SHouldn't you be at Hogsmeade with everyone else?"

"Well, I _was_ going to go with Marlene, but lately she's been too infatuated with a certain someone to even give me the time of day anymore." She sent an accusatory glance Sirius' way, and the older Black brother gave her a smirk. "Oh come on Evans, it's not her fault that she can't stay away from me. I mean, have you seen me?"

"I have, which is why I can't understand why she would choose to date _you_ out of all the possibilities that she had."

James laughed at the offended look that was on SIrius' face. "Tough luck Siri." He chuckled, and Sirius sank down into one of the chairs, a deep pout on his face.

"Now, what's going on with Remus?"

James nibbled at his lower lip. "A couple of the Slytherin students beat him up really bad. Georgia was with him when we left to go and get Madame Pomfrey."

"I'm sure that he's in capable hands then, if he has both Georgia and Madame Pomfrey taking care of him. He's in the best of hands in that case." Lily stood up, placing a hand on James' shoulder. "We may not get along all of the time Potter, but I can see how much you care about your friends. Remus is going to be fine, he's a strong guy."

James nodded his head, he could only trust that Lily was right. She was one of the smartest people in the school, so surely she had to know what she was talking about, right?

For the next couple of hours, Lily kept on talking with the boys to try and keep them occupied and keep their minds off of Remus. They were both grateful for it, since there wasn't anything that they could do about the current situation. 

It was nearly ten o'clock that night before Georgia finally entered the common room, and she looked exhausted. Blood covered her hands and she looked like she was about to collapse. James quickly scurried over to her, wrapping an arm around her and guiding her over to a chair so that she can sit down. 

"How's Remus?" Sirius asked her. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine." Georgia sounded like she could sleep for days. "He's going to be okay, Madame Pomfrey managed to heal most of his wounds, but he's going to be spending the next couple of days in the hospital wing."

Lily ran up to her dorm, soon returning with a wet washcloth and wiping the blood off of Georgia's hands and arms. "You need to rest." She told her.

"We'll take her to the dorm so that she can rest." James said. He helped Georgia to stand up, and she leaned against him, letting out a great big yawn. James wrapped an arm around her, leading her up the stairs. He helped her to lay down on her bed, and Georgia was asleep before her head hit the pillow. 

"Sleep well Georgie." He whispered, pulling the blankets up over her before pulling her curtains shut. He left the room quietly, sighing and running a hand through his hair. There was always something that happened to them, wasn't there?


End file.
